A 23-year-old man was on Wednesday arrested in connection with the kidnapping and murder of a Class IX student at an Indirapuram school on Sunday. The accused, who was arrested from Kanawani, had hatched a plan to abduct the victim and demand money from the his father, the police said.
The police said that the accused has been identified as Vishal Soni, a resident of Pratap Vihar. He was arrested following a tip-off.
“We had received an information that Mr. Soni was hiding at Kanawani. A team was formed and he was nabbed on Wednesday,” said Superintendent of Police (City), Ghaziabad, Akash Tomar.
Demanded ransom
The child was abducted and killed by three youths, including a minor who had befriended him. They also demanded a ransom from his father after the abduction. They later killed him and dumped his body in a drain in Greater Noida.
The two other accused were already arrested in connection with the case, but Mr. Soni was at large. The Ghaziabad SSP had decalred a ₹25,000 reward on his head.
The police have seized a two-wheeler used in the crime, a mobile phone and a countrymade weapon with two cartridges.
Mr. Soni is a notorious criminal and an infamous history-sheeter, with at least seven cases registered against him at Indirapuram police station. He had formed different gangs and had previously been to jail on charges of vehicle theft from Indirapuram in 2015.
