New Delhi, July 29 - In a shocking crime, a 16-year-old boy from Delhi, who was kidnapped Tuesday for a ransom of Rs.2 million, was found murdered Wednesday while his family blamed police for failing to save his life.
Car-borne assailants kidnapped the 16-year-old boy for a ransom amount of Rs. 2 million and Wednesday murdered him - exposing shoddy handling of the case by Delhi Police and their failure to act in time though they were informed immediately after the boy was kidnapped.
Ribhu Chawla was Wednesday found murdered in desolate ruins near Ryan International School in Vasant Kunj area of southwest Delhi. He was identified from school emblem on his uniform.
He was kidnapped Tuesday afternoon. Ribhu, a Class 11 student of the K.R. Mangalam School in west Delhi's Vikaspuri, was returning home on his Scooty two-wheeler along with a friend, Sushanth, who was riding a motorbike, after school hours. He lived in the same area.
When the two boys reached close to Ribhu's home in the State Bank of India (SBI) Apartments, a Wagon-R car waylaid them.
According to police, two unidentified men got down from the car and started beating Ribhu. They pulled him into the car and sped away. When Sushanth tried to intervene, he was pushed and beaten.
Sushanth and some eyewitnesses immediately called up the police control room at 3.17 p.m. Later in the evening, the kidnappers called up Ribhu's father Sanjay Chawla, a businessman, and demanded Rs.2 million for the boy's safe release.
However, it was not clear whether the family paid the ransom. Police sources said the family was not forthcoming with details and was making flip-flop on the question of ransom payment.
Senior police officers refused to comment what action was taken to trace the car and the abductors after the control room was informed about the abduction and the car's registration number.
After the body was discovered, the forensic and crime experts minutely inspected the spot and were reported to have lifted some fingerprints.