Two arrested for kidnap, murder of 12-yr-old boy

Our Correspondent

Abohar, November 22

The police on Friday recovered the body of financier Baljinder Singh Sandhu’s son Arman (12) who was abducted by a motorcyclist from outside his house in Nai Abadi on October 17. He was a student of LRS DAV Senior Secondary Model School here. Two persons — Sunil Kumar Sheilu and Pawan Kumar Anky — of Azeemgarh colony have been arrested for the crime.

The mutilated body that had been dumped near the railway overbridge on the Malout road was recovered in the presence of SDM Poonam Singh, SP Manjit Singh and DSP Rahul Bhardwaj. It was shifted to the Civil Hospital amid heart-rending scenes as relatives tried to console Arman’s mother Davinderpal Kaur.

SSP Bhupinder Singh Sidhu said a case had been registered under Section 365 of the IPC on October 18. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) had been formed. As many as 50 policemen had launched a search operation in Nai Abadi, Azeemgarh, Uttam Vihar colony, Rajiv Nagar, Durga Nagari and Dhani Bishesharnath. More than 250 persons with whom Baljinder and his family had financial or social dealing were questioned.

It surfaced during the investigation that on November 3, the kidnappers delivered a letter to Baljinder demanding Rs 2 crore to free Arman and he was asked to contact with a Facebook ID. The team that had scanned hundreds of CCTV footages and examined micro call tower dumps narrowed down on Sunil Kumar when Baljinder confirmed having a financial deal with him worth Rs 30 lakh.

CIA staff incharge Jagdish Kumar nabbed Sunil and his friend Pawan by intercepting a car near Alamgarh Chowk. The phone that they carried had the same Facebook ID, video of Arman shot after kidnapping him and the chat demanding ransom. They reportedly confessed to have kidnapped Arman. The duo allegedly made the boy captive in a rented house on Seetogunno road. They shot his photos and video, besides getting some blank papers signed to blackmail his father for ransom. After two days, they allegedly strangled him and dumped the body near the railway overbridge. It has surfaced that both had taken a loan from Baljinder.