Three men arrested for allegedly murdering a seven-year-old boy and his five-year-old sister after failing to get Rs.30 lakh as ransom from their parents, have been remanded in three-day police custody by a court here. One of them was the uncle of the victims.
The police told the court that their custodial interrogation was required to apprehend the fourth absconding accused. The children were found dead near Pragati Maidan on Saturday morning by a taxi driver, four days after they were kidnapped from their school from Mandawali.
The police claimed that the relative was aware of a property deal that was transacted by the victim’s family, a few days ago, and was eyeing a ransom amount of Rs.30 lakh.
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The police alleged that an earlier attempt to kidnap the children failed after they were absent from school on that occasion. After kidnapping them on February 24, they made ransom calls to the parents but on seeing the chance of laying hands on the money go dim, they strangulated the children and smashed their heads with stones, the police alleged.
While the uncle needed Rs.6 lakh immediately to allegedly buy a flat in Mandawali, another suspect had huge gambling debts. The other three suspects were to allegedly get a share of Rs.2 lakh each and the rest was to be kept by the uncle, the police alleged.