The key accused arrested in connection with the kidnapping and murder of a 7-year-old boy here had allegedly hatched the conspiracy to pay off his cricket betting debt amounting to Rs 1.5 crore, police said today.
Ankur Padia (32) and his brother Anoop Padia (35) were arrested yesterday in connection with the kidnapping and subsequent murder of Rudraksh Handa, son of a bank manager, earlier this month. The incident had lead to a huge public outrage with people holding several protests.
Ankur, who is the key accused in the case, was arrested from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Anoop was nabbed in Lucknow for helping Ankur while he was on the run after the crime. Anoop was also wanted in a case of cheating for seven years.
Rudraksh was abducted on the evening of October 9 from a park in Talwandi area of the city where he was playing with other children of the colony. The abductor had made a call to his family the same evening demanding Rs 2 crore.
But the boy was found dead the next morning in a canal in Jhakmund village of Talera police station area of Bundi district.
Additional Director General (ADG) Crime) Ajit Singh today said the main motive behind the crime was Ankur's heavy debt because of his lavish lifestyle.
Ankur was involved in cricket betting and had ran debts amounting to 1.5 crore. He had carried out the kidnapping to pay off his debts with the ransom money, the ADG said.
He said Ankur was an acquaintance of Rudraksh's family and was sure that they will be able to pay good ransom amount.
Anoop had helped Ankur by providing him shelter while on the run after the crime, the ADG said, adding that Anoop's involvement in hatching the conspiracy of kidnap and murder is also being investigated. He worked at a mobile showroom in Luknow.
The ADG said while on the run, Ankur had stayed at a hotel in Kanpur on a fake Orissa ID with name 'Sushanta Rajgharika'. The fake IDs and other documents have been recovered from the hotel room from where Ankur was arrested, he added.
The police official said police teams were sent to 8-9 states, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, UP, Delhi and Bihar, in search of Ankur.
Besides his car, CCTV footages and the email for the purchase of chloroform from Gujrat were the vital clues that led to Ankur's arrest, he said.
