It was a 17-year-old juvenile who had allegedly kidnapped and murdered a six-year-old boy in Central Delhi's Ranjit Nagar area just to fulfill his desire to own a high-end mobile phone.
The macabre plot came to light within hours after the victim, identified as Ganesh, was found dead in a park in south-west Delhi's Naraina area last evening. He was kidnapped Thursday evening when he was playing outside his house in Central Delhi's Ranjit Nagar area.
Police believed since beginning that a known person of the family was involved as professionals would not have kidnapped a fruit vendor's son and demanded Rs 1.5 lakh.
"During investigation, it came to light that the boy was last seen playing with the juvenile close to his house before he went missing. The juvenile was therefore interviewed at length in the presence of his parents during which, he broke down and confessed to the crime. He has been detained for the act," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Central Range) Sandeep Goel.
He disclosed that he wanted to buy an iPhone and lead a lavish lifestyle. He knew that the deceased's father had recently spent Rs 1.5 lakh on his heart surgery. This led him to believe that he can arrange the same amount of money again, police said.
"On Thursday evening, he lured the victim on the pretext of letting him play games in his mobile phone and waylaid him to Satya Park in Naraina where he stabbed him with a knife to death. He then made a ransom call from a Chinese mobile handset using a SIM card which he had stolen from the mobile of his neighbourer's wife," said Goel.
He made a ransom call of Rs 1.5 lakh to the deceased's father and directed him to arrange the same by the next morning. After brutally killing the child, he came back to his house and washed his clothes and even involved himself in the search of the child with the deceased family to avoid being suspected, he said.
