The police are on the look-out for suspects who are believed to have kidnapped and killed a 15-year-old boy in Hyderabad on Wednesday, leaving his tied-up body in a box by the road side. The parents had received a ransom call earlier. His body was found on Thursday morning.
The body of Abhay Modani, a Class 10 student, was stuffed in a TV packaging box and abandoned along the road near Alpha Hotel in Secunderabad. His hands were tied with a rope.
Abhay left his house in Sree Colony of Shahinayatgunj around 5 pm on Wednesday to get idlis for his family members. He rode a two-wheeler, collected idlis and came back close to his house.
“But he didn’t go to the house. Video footage of surveillance cameras showed that he entered a lane close to his house,” Goshamahal ACP K. Rambhoopal Rao told the media, in a statement on Thursday.
The video clips also showed a stranger, who appeared to be familiar to the boy, following the boy from behind, who then went on to ride the vehicle while Abhay sat behind him.
As the boy didn’t return home, his parents started a search and approached the police around 8 pm. Even as the police started inquiring about the boy, the boy’s aunt got a phone call.
The caller speaking chaste Hindi claimed that his gang abducted the boy and demanded Rs. 10 crore. Ten minutes later, he rang up again and urged the boy’s father to pay Rs. 5 crore.
Grabs from the CCTV footage shows Abhay being taken somewhere by an unknown person
The police immediately traced the call to Secunderabad area and special teams including the Commissioner's Task Force, started searching for suspects.
The boy's body was found on Thursday morning. Police suspect that the business rivals of the boy’s father Raj Kumar, who has a scrap recycling company in Katedan of Rajendranagar, could be behind the killing.
They have also announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for anyone who can identify the stranger who picked up Abhay from near his house.