Six days after he was kidnapped, the body of Delhi University (DU) student Ayush Nautiyal was found in Dwarka on Wednesday.
The kidnapper, who had asked for a ransom of ₹50 lakh, has been arrested.
The 20-year-old victim, a BCom final-year student, had left for college from his house in Palam Colony’s Sadh Nagar around 12.30 p.m. on March 22.
“I have an assignment and I’ll be late, Mumma,” he had told his mother Kiran Nautiyal while leaving. His decomposed body was found in a drain in Dwarka Sector 13 six days later.
Joint Commissioner of Police (New Delhi Range) Ajay Chaudhary said that 26-year-old Ishtiyaq Ali, a former student of a Fashion Institute, has been arrested from Uttam Nagar for allegedly bludgeoning Ayush to death.
“The two had met over a dating application 10 days ago. They met thrice. On March 21, they met in a restaurant in Dwarka Sector 13. The CCTV footage of the meeting was examined,” he said. The police said that the two had an argument over something which turned violent and the accused attacked Ayush with a hammer.
Ayush’s sister Disha recalled that her mother asked her to check on Ayush around 7.30 p.m. on March 22. “He had two numbers. I called on both, but they were switched off. We thought he might have gone for some college festival,” she said.
Twenty minutes later, Ayush’s father Dinesh returned home and his phone automatically connected to the house WiFi and he received several WhatsApp messages.
Photo of Ayush
The family were shocked to see seven to eight messages, including a photograph that showed a bloodied Ayush with his hands tied and a white cloth around his mouth and forehead.
The messages, which had come from Ayush’s WhatsApp number, said that he had been kidnapped and that the family should give ₹50 lakh for his release.
“We were shocked. We didn’t know what to do... We finally informed the police 9.30 p.m.,” said Disha.
The family said that for the next few days the kidnapper sent them messages on WhatsApp every evening, and then switched off the phone. “Almost every evening, we got messages from Ayush’s number. When my father replied, the messages would deliver only the next day,” she said.
Mr. Dinesh pleaded with the kidnapper to bring down the ransom money but the kidnapper said it was “non-negotiable”.
However, later he brought down the amount to ₹10 lakh. The kidnapper allegedly called Mr. Dinesh to two locations for the exchange, once in Uttam Nagar and another time in Vasant Vihar, but never showed up.
“Under the supervision of the police and relatives, my father went both times but the kidnappers kept making him do the rounds. They never showed up,” said Ayush’s second sister Divya. The communication suddenly stopped on Wednesday. Ayush’s body was found in the drain later that day.
Mr. Chaudhary said that that the accused had killed Ayush on the day that he had abducted him. “Ali had killed Ayush the same day, but he was trying to divert the attention of the police and the family by sending ransom messages. The accused had disposed off the body with the help of a friend the next day,” he said.
‘An introvert’
Talking about Ayush, his family said he was an introvert who didn’t share much about himself. “He was very good in his studies but had a limited friends circle. He hadn’t decided on what to do after college but he was interested in fashion designing,” said Disha.
