A nine-year-old boy was found dead in Karnataka on Thursday, November 4, a day after he was reported missing by his father, a vegetable trader. Police said that the boy, Karthik, had been abducted a day earlier, and his body was later recovered in Mysuru district’s Hanagodu village, where he resided. The police added that one person has been arrested in connection to the abduction. However, four others are still at large.
The victim was a Class four student and he had gone missing after he left home to buy firecrackers. Following this, Karthik’s father, Nagaraj, reportedly received a call from the accused demanding Rs 4 lakh as ransom. “I was in our vegetable shop at 8.07 pm on November 3. Then I got a phone call from an unknown person and they asked me where my son was. I responded that he must be at home. Then they told me that my son is not at my home and with them. They said that if I wanted my son back I had to take Rs 4 lakh to Hunsur, if not, they would kill my son by slitting his neck,” Nagaraj said in the first information report (FIR).
The accused also asked him not to approach the police, according to IANS.
However, Nagraj reported the matter to the police anyway, following which one of the accused was arrested. During investigation, the accused reportedly confessed to having killed the boy, according to IANS, and led the police to the site where Karthik’s body was dumped. The police suspect that after making the ransom call, the kidnappers, who were worried of being identified, killed the boy and went into hiding.
The involvement of residents from surrounding villages is being suspected by the police. Further investigation into the matter is underway. When TNM asked an official from the Hunsur police station, whether there was a prior connection between the victim and the accused, the official said that the kidnapping was carried out for the sole purpose of collecting a ransom. Further investigation is underway.
With IANS inputs