4 held for abduction, killing of teen in Bihar

Four youths were arrested on Thursday in connection the kidnapping of a 14-year-old school student, who was found murdered in Bihar’s Siwan district, and demanding Rs 50-lakh ransom from the family, a senior officer said.

Rahul Kumar, a Class 7 student of Kendriya Vidyalaya and son of late Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Surendra Patel, was abducted late on Wednesday.

His body was recovered from an area outside Siwan town on Thursday morning, Superintendent of Police Navin Chandra Jha said.

He said four youths, including mastermind behind the incident Vikky Kumar Singh have been arrested. The three others arrested have been identified as Pappu Kumar Singh, Abhisek Kumar Singh and Abhinav Kumar Singh. They were friends of Rahul and used to play cricket with him.

“The abductors killed him fearing arrest after a search and rescue operation was launched,” he said.

The victim’s cousin, Rajeev Ranjan, told the police that he had received a call from the kidnappers demanding a ransom of Rs 50 lakh.

“It is a matter of investigation as to how the accused — all friends of the deceased — demanded such a huge ransom from his family despite being fully aware of their financial condition,” another police official K.K. Mishra said.