Delhi boy abducted, chopped for Rs.4 lakh

A five-year-old boy was abducted, killed and his body chopped and dumped in a jungle when his father failed to pay Rs.4 lakh in ransom, police said.

The gruesome incident took place last year, and the details were revealed by an abductor, Mahendra, 40, arrested by the police Wednesday night from the Sarai Kale Khan area. Mahendra was living under an assumed identity in Srinivaspuri after spending some time in Ludhiana, Punjab, police said.

Mahendra and Riyaz kidnapped the boy, Pradeep, from outside his house in the Amar Colony area of south Delhi in July 2012. The abductors then made a Rs.4 lakh ransom call to his father.

But the father, a washerman, failed to arrange the money.

"Mahendra after his arrest told police they took the boy to south Delhi's Sukhdev Vihar and killed him. The body was then chopped into several pieces and dumped in the jungle," said a police officer.

Though Riyaz was arrested Aug 10, 2012, a few days after the kidnapping, he never disclosed to police they killed the boy.

"Mahendra told us Riyaz had abducted another boy and killed him when his father could not cough up a paltry Rs.200," a police officer told IANS.

"The remains of the boy (Pradeep) have been recovered and would be sent to a forensic laboratory," the officer added.