Trader’s son ‘fakes’ kidnap,killed by friends

The accused have confessed to their crime,added the police.

Nitin and Munna work at a shop while Atul runs a grocery shop. Shivam’s father Makkhan Jindal is a well-known businessman of Sitapur.

Shivam was missing since Thursday night.

The ASP said Shivam planned his own kidnapping to extort money from his father. A resident of Jail Road locality,Makkhan Jindal’s house falls under City Kotwali police station. His shop is located close to his house.

According to the police,Shivam closed did not reach home till late on Thursday. The family contacted his friends and relatives to know of his whereabouts.

The police added that Jindal received a call on his cellphone around 1 am. The caller informed him that his son was kidnapped and demanded Rs 30 lakh as ransom for his release. Jindal immediately informed the police. The call was made from Shivam’s cellphone.

Police teams were formed and Shivam’s cellphone was put under surveillance. Its location was traced to Lucknow’s Naka area on Friday. The Sitapur police sent Shivam’s photograph and other details to their Lucknow counterparts.

The police searched the guest houses and hotels in Naka area and also checked video-footages of these places.

Kotwali police station SHO Vinay Gautam said the Lucknow police spotted Shivam and his friends in one of the video-footages and sent it to Sitapur for verification. The Sitapur police showed footages to victim’s family,who confirmed his identity.

The Lucknow police raided the hotel but the accused and the victim had left the hotel by then.

The police added that around 6 am yesterday,Jindal again received a call from another mobile number demanding the ransom. He informed the police that this time the accused made him speak to his son.

The police traced the call to Sitapur and found the location of the three accused in Kotwali area yesterday afternoon.

During interrogation,the accused confessed to have killed Shivam and directed the police to his body. ASP Jagdeep Singh said the accused told them that they killed Shivam soon after he spoke to his father in the morning.

Meanwhile,Shivam’s father has denied that he staged his own kidnapping.