Representative image of kidnapping.
Credit: iStock Photo
Banda: A 13-year-old son of a cloth merchant, who was abducted in broad daylight in Uttar Pradesh's Chitrakoot district, was killed allegedly by the kidnappers after the ransom was not paid, police said on Friday.
One of the accused was killed and another injured in a police encounter earlier in the day, they said.
Chitrakoot Superintendent of Police Arun Kumar Singh said the incident took place in the Bargarh police station area, where Ashok Kesarwani's son, Ayush, was abducted by unidentified assailants around 6 pm on Thursday.
The kidnappers made a ransom demand through a WhatsApp call around 8 pm, following which police were informed about the abduction at around 9 pm, he said.
Singh said that after an overnight search operation, police had an encounter with the accused in the Paranu Baba forest area of Bargarh at around 7.30 am on Friday. During the exchange of fire, the two accused, identified as Irfan and Kallu, suffered gunshot injuries.
Both were rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared Kallu dead, and Irfan was referred to Prayagraj for treatment, the SP said.
He said Ayush's body was recovered from a box kept inside a room belonging to Irfan on his disclosure. The body bore marks of strangulation around the neck and injury marks on the chest.
According to police, Irfan had earlier lived as a tenant in Ashok Kesarwani's house but was asked to vacate the room on December 10.
Both Irfan and Kallu were residents of Shankargarh in Prayagraj district and were engaged in making boxes as their business in Bargarh, Singh added.