Twins’ murder by abductors shocks MP

The brutal murder of six-year-old twins from Chitrakoot on Madhya Pradesh-Uttar Pradesh border by their abductors has caused massive grief and outrage across Madhya Pradesh.

Shreyansh and Priyansh, sons of an oil-merchant, were abducted on gunpoint from a school bus on February 12 near the school campus. Their bodies were recovered from Yamuna River in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday night.

The police have arrested six people including five students of the rural university founded by BJP ideologue Nanaji Deshmukh in Chitrakoot. The abductors had fled away with the abductees in a bike with Ramrajya written on its number plate. They also used a car with BJP’s flag aflutter on the bonnet. The entire incident was caught on CCTV.

According to the Satna Police, the abductors had demanded Rs 2 crore as ransom and the family of the twin had paid Rs 20 lakh to them.

Shreyansh and Priyansh were class I students of a public school in Chitrakoot. Their father Brijesh Rawat is an oil businessman who lives in Karvi in Uttar Pradesh.

Rewa zone Inspector general of police Chanchal Shekhar said main accused of the twin murder Padam Shukla is a convenor of local Bajrang Dal.

The IGP said the accused had the twins connected to their father through internet calling two days after the abduction. They used mobile phones of passersby to talk to the father. On February 19, Brijesh paid Rs 20 lakh to the abductors but two days later the twins were found dead in the Yamuna river. Their hands and legs were tied.

Police suspect that the abductors killed the boys for the fear of being identified later. All the abductors were local and known to the slain boys. One of the accused is an employee of the school where the boys studied.

As the news of the murder reached Chitrakoot, thousands of angry people came out on the street in protest. Shopkeepers downed shutters of their shops in grief. Despite heavy police deployment, a mob vandalised some shops and public properties. Police used tear gas to quell the mob at some places. Shock and anger enveloped the entire state.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath spoke to the aggrieved family members and consoled them.

The accused are not professional criminals but the lure of fast money made them resort to this devilish crime, the police said.