Abductors told child his grandmother had died

His kidnapper got Utkarsh Verma to accompany him, saying his grandmother had passed away.

Days before the kidnapping, Pratap Singh Sisodiya had also done a recee of Utkarsh’s route from his school in Anand Vihar to his house in Gandhi Nagar.

On November 14, Pratap also met Utkarsh after he was dropped by his school van at Jheel Chowk in Geeta Colony around 2 pm. “Pratap asked Utkarsh about the timings of his school and the time at which he was dropped by the school van,” said Ajay Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East).

Pratap then hatched a conspiracy with Siddharth Sharma and decided to carry out the kidnapping on November 18. Pratap and Siddharth went to Geeta Colony on separate scooters and stopped about 50 metres from the dropping point of Utkarsh’s school van.

Pratap met Utkarsh on the way and told him that his grandmother had passed away. He then asked Utkarsh to accompany him. During this period, Siddharth was keeping a watch on them. “Siddharth was looking for presence of any known person who may identify them,” Kumar added.

Pratap took Utkarsh to his house in Guru Angad Nagar on his scooter, while Siddharth followed them. At the house, Utkarsh was given a cold drink laced with sedatives after which he lost consciousness. Pratap and Siddharth then went to Geeta Colony Pushta from where they made the first ransom call.

When they went back to the house, Utkarsh regained consciousness and insisted on talking to his parents. “The kidnappers again gave sedatives to Utkarsh on which he lost consciousness. They then went to V3S East Center Mall in Laxmi Nagar to make the second call and returned home,” Kumar said.

Pratap and Siddharth used different SIM cards and mobile phones to make the ransom calls. They also found it difficult to control Utkarsh as he was insisting on talking to his parents. Pratap later sent Siddharth to Utkarsh’s house, where he found a gathering of about 100 to 150 people.

Siddharth informed Pratap that they were in a soup and decided to kill Utkarsh. “Pratap and Siddharth smothered Utkarsh. Around 5 am, they carried the body on the scooter and threw it in the drain in Geeta Colony,” Kumar added.