UP Man Kidnaps Jeweller's Grandson For Ransom To Repay Debts, Murders Him

A 36-year-old man was arrested for allegedly abducting and murdering the 10-year-old grandson of a jeweller here, with police claiming he had demanded a ransom of Rs 1 crore from the victim's family and hatched the plot to repay his debts.

The victim, Vaibhav Verma, a Class 4th student and grandson of local jeweller Laxmi Narayan Verma, went missing on Monday afternoon after returning from school.

Police said CCTV footage showed the child walking with his neighbour, Sarvesh alias Bittu Bhatt, a computer teacher, following which the suspect was detained.

During interrogation, Sarvesh allegedly confessed that he was under severe financial stress due to liabilities of about Rs 36 lakh, including a Rs 25 lakh loan from an NBFC and Rs 11 lakh borrowed from a friend.

According to police, Sarvesh researched extortion methods allegedly used by gangster Lawrence Bishnoi's network with the help of AI tools and purchased a Cambodia-based mobile number online to create a WhatsApp account for making ransom calls.

Investigators said the accused lured the child with the promise of a gift, took him to a nearby field and allegedly strangled him when he started shouting. He then packed the body in a sack, hid it in the basement of his house and called the family to demand Rs 1 crore as ransom.

Superintendent of Police (South) Dinesh Puri said police recovered the accused's mobile phone, which allegedly contained AI-generated queries related to ransom collection and criminal gang operations.

The child's body was recovered on Tuesday, and the post-mortem examination confirmed death by strangulation, police said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)