The burnt body of a 13-year-old boy, identified as Nishchith, was found in a deserted area along Kaggalipura Road in Bengaluru on Thursday, July 31, a day after he was kidnapped while returning home from tuition.
Nishchith, a Class 8 student at Christ School and a resident of Shantiniketan Layout in Arakere, had gone missing on Wednesday evening. His father, JC Achit, an assistant professor at a private college, filed a missing persons and kidnapping complaint at Hulimavu Police Station after the boy did not return home at the expected time.
According to the police, Nishchith left home for his tuition class at 5 pm and was expected back by 7:30 pm. When he failed to return, his parents contacted the tuition teacher, who confirmed that he had left at the usual time. The family later discovered his bicycle abandoned near Promili Park in Arekere. Soon after, they received a ransom call from an unknown number demanding Rs 5 lakh for the boy’s release.
Despite the swift filing of a police complaint and the family’s readiness to comply with the ransom demand, when the kidnappers found out that the police had been involved they killed Nishchith, according to the police. On Thursday evening, the boy’s partially burnt body was found in a deserted stretch along Kaggalipura Road. His clothes and footwear were largely charred.
Senior police officials, including Bengaluru Rural SP CK Baba and Electronic City DCP Narayan, visited the crime scene. “When the kidnapper received information that the parents of the minor had filed a police complaint, they allegedly beat him to death and half-burned his body. The body of the minor was found in a deserted area on Kaggalipura Road in Bannerghatta. A case of kidnapping and murder has been registered,” SP CK Baba said in a statement.
Based on a tip off, the police had located the suspects, identified as Gurumurthy, who worked as a driver at the victim's house and his associate Gopikrishna.
According to a report by Times of India, when the police tried to apprehend the suspects around 1 am, the duo reportedly tried to attack them, forcing the police to fire at them in self-defense.
Both the suspects sustained injuries on their legs and are currently under treatment.