Kidnapped child killed in US

A 10-month-old Indian girl, who was kidnapped early this week, was on Friday found dead in the basement of an apartment in a Philadelphia township in the US.

Baby Saanvi Venna was found dead in the basement of the apartment by the police early Friday morning about 4:30 (local time) in the King of Prussia, a Philadelphia police official said.

Saanvi was kidnapped and her 61-year-old grandmother Satyavathi Venna was killed by unknown people on Monday. The authorities had announced $ 50,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of the toddler. “We have arrested a family friend, identified as Raghunandan Yandamuri, who was demanding ransom,” the official said, adding that there were 10 copies of identical ransom notes demanding $ 50,000 found near the apartment. “We have filed charges of murder, kidnapping, robbery, burglary and theft against Yandamuri. What we have learned during the course of investigation is that this individual planned to kidnap Saanvi and was going to hold her for ransom,” the official said.

Earlier, Pennsylvania State Police had issued an Amber Child Abduction Alert. According to District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, the body of Satyavathi, the paternal grandmother of Saanvi, was discovered inside the apartment. She was babysitting the child. The grandmother had arrived in the US from India in July 2012 and was scheduled to return home in January 2013.