Nuh: Months after 11-year-old went missing, 1 held for murder

DSP Punhana Shamsher Singh said recently, the family filed another complaint alleging that the boy had taken a bag, which had over Rs 3.62 lakh cash, and had been kidnapped.

“One person, Arif (20) has been arrested. He has also named another accused. Both are from the same neighbourhood. The victim was known to the duo and they took him to Gurgaon, Bahadurgarh, Hansi, Hisar and Haridwar. As per questioning, the accused said they strangled the boy to death in Sariska about 8-10 days after he went missing. Their intention was to steal the money that the victim had brought. After killing him, they went to Mumbai to spend money. In the past few months, they kept returning to the village to evade suspicion,” said DSP Singh.

Speaking to The Indian Express on Thursday, the boy’s father, a farmer, said for four months, the family had been living in uncertainty. “Every day we feared someone would kill him since he was carrying so much cash. People kill for much less. Our fear came true. All we want is justice…,” he said.
He said a week before his son was allegedly kidnapped, he had sold a plot for over Rs 5 lakh: “I took Rs 32,000 to deposit in the bank… and kept Rs 3.62 lakh in my almirah. Word had spread in the neighbourhood that I had sold the plot. The accused hatched a conspiracy to lure my son and kidnapped him to steal the cash.”

Alleging laxity by police, the father said he shared all leads with them: “Had they acted sooner, my son would be alive.”

Police denied the allegations. DSP Singh said, “Initially the family said they didn’t suspect anyone. A few days after the incident, the boy called his cousin and said he was in Mathura and was safe. He also told them he had given Rs 50,000 to his cousin and taken the rest of the cash. We brought the cousin in for questioning too. The accused were trying to mislead the family at the time.” Police are looking for the second accused.