Abducted boy found dead in field

The Amritsar police also claimed to have made a breakthrough in the Prabir Singh kidnapping case, saying it was the handiwork of an inter-state gang.

The police managed to find the kidnappers after they traced their cellphone number. The dealer from whom the two had bought the phone identified them for the police and the account matched those of an eyewitness.

Jalandhar IG S.K. Sharma said ransom was the motive behind the kidnapping. Jasbir was pressuring Vikram to return a huge debt as he was to go abroad. The duo hit upon abducting Abhi, known as Harry, the only son of jeweller Ravi Verma.

The Class IX student was on his way to DAV school when he was whisked away in a car around 8.45 last morning. IG Sharma, in a hurriedly convened press conference, said Vikram was a frequent visitor to Abhi’s house, one reason why the boy did not offer much resistance initially.

It was only after the car passed the school that Abhi realised something was wrong. Sharma said Jasbir took Abhi to the Milap Nagar house where he and his wife are caretakers for an NRI. They gagged him and gave him a few injections to make him unconscious.

At 12, they rang up Abhi’s father and demanded Rs 50 lakh ransom. By then, however, they realised he had died probably of overdose and decided to dispose of his body. They stripped him, wrapped him in a bedsheet and borrowed a friend’s car to dump the body.

Sharma claimed that Jasbir and his wife were in the process of setting the boy’s clothes and books on fire after midnight when a police party raided their house in Milap Nagar. The IG said police had traced the cellphone from which the kidnappers had called Abhi’s parents. The two cars used in the crime have also been seized.

Sources close to the family said Vikram even visited Abhi’s residence after news of the kidnapping spread in the city and spoke to his parents.

Abhi was cremated this evening after the post mortem amid thousands from across the city who turned up for the funeral.