The body of a seven-year-old boy who was allegedly abducted and murdered on January 7 by his 27-year-old neighbour in north-west Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar was found on Tuesday morning, the police said.
The child’s body was found packed in a suitcase in the accused’s house over a month after the boy went missing.
Class I student Ashish Saini, a resident of Nathupura’s D-Block, went missing around 5.30 p.m. on January 7. On Tuesday morning, the accused Avadesh Sakya, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri, was arrested for allegedly smothering the child within 15 minutes of kidnapping him. He had wrapped the body in a plastic bag, put it inside a green and black suitcase, and dumped the suitcase in his bed box.
The accused was arrested after he confessed to the crime, the police said.
Ashish’s eight-year-old sister Gunjan had allegedly told the family a week after the incident that “Avadesh chacha had promised Ashish he would buy him a bicycle in the evening [on January 7]”.
The family suspected Mr. Sakya’s involvement since then but did not inform the police till four days ago because they believed he was the one spearheading the search for the boy.
“There were murmurs in the house about his involvement but some members believed him so much so that they didn’t say anything to him. He got to know about it later and started throwing tantrums. A week ago, he stopped coming to our house and that’s when we approached the police,” said Ashish’s aunt Radha Saini.
The accused was a relative of the victim’s family and stayed with them for a couple of months seven years ago when he allegedly came to the city to prepare for the Civil Services examination. He lives a few houses away from the victim’s house presently.
Dispute claim
During interrogation, he told the police that the motive behind the murder was an alleged dispute between him and Ashish’s parents, and his need for money.
“The boy came to his house around 5.30 p.m. He smothered him with a muffler. He said he had interrogated the boy as to what his parents used to talk about him [Mr. Sakya]. The boy said his mother asked him not to meet him often. He got enraged and killed the boy,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) Aslam Khan.
He allegedly told the police that he had planned to ask for ransom of at least ₹15 lakh after disposing of the body at the next possible opportunity.
The family was shocked to learn that the person who kidnapped and murdered their only son was Mr. Sakya. Ashish’s grandfather Lal Saini said he trusted the accused, who lived with them for most time of the day.
“I used to take his help and advice for every little thing. We used to trust him because we thought he was educated and was preparing for UPSC. He also said that he was joining the CBI on February 12,” said Mr. Saini.
In fact, the boy’s father Karan Saini, 28, who runs a general store, recalled that he was in Manali with his friends on the day of the incident and Mr. Sakya was the first person his wife Neelam called when the family couldn’t find Ashish.
“Ashish wasn’t someone who would roam around randomly. When he didn’t come back by 5.45 p.m., the family got worried and started looking for him. Mr. Sakya was with us the whole time looking for the boy,” said Mr. Karan Saini.
Ms. Khan said that Mr. Sakya had come to the police station with the grandfather to register the FIR. “The grandfather, in fact, introduced him at the police station as his fourth son,” she said.
‘Misled family’
The victim’s aunt Sonia said that while looking for Ashish, Mr. Sakya allegedly cooked up a story to mislead the family. “On January 7, he made us buy wooden sticks and took us to a forest nearby to look for Ashish,” she said.
The aunt alleged that the same night, he came back with a bottle of vodka and snacks and told the family that the police had traced the location of the kidnappers. “He said he had gone to the location and found the items there though no one was found. We believed him,” she said.
On why he didn’t dispose the body, Mr. Sakya told the police that he didn’t get an opportunity because of CCTV cameras installed on the street. “We installed CCTV cameras right after the incident. In fact, he dissuaded us from installing them claiming there was police movement,” said Ms. Radha.
