Hyderabad, June 19: Police Saturday arrested a couple from Uttar Pradesh on charges of murdering a defence scientist’s son they had abducted for ransom.
C. Pranav, a Class V student, was kidnapped June 10 from outside his house in Alapatinagar area.
Three days later, his body was found in a gunny bag in an open drain, not far from the his house.
According to police, Ranjan Malik and Shalini Malik kidnapped Pranav for ransom but panicked and smothered the boy to death after his father lodged a police complaint.
Ranjan, who works as watchman, said they committed the crime as they were facing financial problems.
Police had a tough time cracking the case as the boy’s father did not receive a ransom call.
On the evening of June 10, a person called the distraught father to know if Pranav was his son. However, the line got disconnected as Rao’s mobile ran out of battery.
The police released the sketch of a man who was seen talking to the boy before he went missing.
The case was finally resolved when witnesses told the police about a man carrying a gunny bag and accompanied by a woman.
Bihari Pandey has been freed from a jail here at the age of 108, having spent 24 years behind bars for committing multiple murders.
Bihari was 84 when he along with 15 others had killed one Bhagwant Pandey and three others in Maharajganj district on June 15, 1987.
The killing stemmed from Bihari’s desire to become a ‘mahant’ of the local Jagannath temple. After one Ramanujdas was elected to the post in his place, an angry Bihari plotted the mahant’s murder and that of three others.
In December 2009, Bihari and other accused were held guilty by a lower court and sentenced to life imprisonment, Jailor of Divisional Jail Navami Lal said.
Bihari is suffering from various ailments and is almost bed ridden and undergoing treatment.
In the last week of May, Bihari along with 10 other convicts, was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court, which paved way for his release.
“Following the court’s order, he was released from the jail yesterday after his nephew’s son completed the formalities,” sources here said.
As Bihari was unable to walk, a car was provided near his cell to bring him home, his family members said.
In 2010, the officer of the Maharajganj district magistrate had sent a clemency petition to the Uttar Pradesh governor for setting him free in view of his advanced age.
—IANS