With the arrest of three persons including two hired killers, police today claimed to have solved the mystery surrounding the murder of a 13-year-old boy.
The murder was fall-out of a business rivalry, they said.
"We have arrested Subhash Patidar (40), Kanhaiyalal Jat (22) and Nanuram Choudhary (25) for the alleged murder, Additional Superintendent of Police Rakesh Singh said.
Patidar ran a chemist shop at Dakachya village in the district and had business rivalry with Ashok Mishra, another chemist shop owner, he said.
Patidar allegedly hired Jat and Choudhary for Rs 2 lakh to kill Mishra's son Kartik, a class IX student.
Jat and Chaudhary abducted Kartik when he was on the way to a coaching class on December 1.
The duo demanded a ransom of Rs 5 lakh from Mishra to release the boy. But later, they allegedly strangled Kartik and threw the body into Narmada river in neighbouring Khargone district. The body was recovered at Maheshwar yesterday, ASP Singh said.
The ransom call was only a ruse to mislead the police and the intention from the start was to kill the boy, he said. Further investigation is on.
