Mumbai college student abducted, murdered by his friend

A 20-year-old son of a civil contractor at Tarapur nuclear plant was allegedly kidnapped and murdered by his friend and his accomplice at Naigaon on the outskirts of Mumbai, police said today.

The duo, identified as Kalpesh Soraj (25) and Ravindra Kumar (25), were arrested yesterday by Thane rural police on the charges of abduction and murder of Ganesh Sriram, a second year student of Thakur College in suburban Kandivali, on Sunday, Kashimira police station inspector Anil Patil said, adding Kalpesh was shifted to the victim's rented flat in Mira Road only ten days back.

On August 12, Kalpesh allegedly took Ganesh to Naigoan on the outskirts of the city on the pretext of meeting a friend and then kidnapped him with the help of his accomplice Ravindra Kumar, police said.

The duo then killed him on the same day and then called up his father demanding a ransom of Rs 8 lakh, which was later brought down to Rs 3 lakh, Patil said.

Police said they today slapped section 302 (murder) against Ravindra and Kalpesh, who were initially booked under section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) among other sections, after Ganesh's body was recovered.