Agra: A businessman’s son was allegedly kidnapped for ransom of of Rs 2 crore by his friends, who killed him and cremated the body in a PPE kit, police said, adding five men have arrested in the case.
The arrested accused have been identified as Happy Khanna, Sumit Aswani, Manoj Bansal, Rinku and Harsh Chauhan.
The victim, Sachin, a resident of the Dayalbagh locality, was the son of SS Chauhan who owns a cold store.
He disappeared on June 21 when Aswani and others asked him to join a booze party near the water plant of the area, Bhupendra Singh, Incharge at New Agra police station, said, adding a missing complaint was lodged on June 22.
Sachin Chauhan was asphyxiated using a lamination paper and cremated at the Balkeshwar Ghat on the day of abduction, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Muniraj G said.
The accused used a fake name to perform his last rites and wrapped him in a PPE kit to hide his identity and to show that he died of COVID, the officer said.
The plot to kidnap was mapped out by Harsh, son of SS Chauhan’s business partner, police said, adding he wasn’t at the spot himself.
Harsh had promised everyone their share and was going to keep Rs 1 crore himself, they said.
Acting on tip-offs, a joint team of Special Task Force (STF) and Agra police on Sunday nabbed Happy Khanna.
Khanna told police that he, along with Aswani, Bansal, and Rinku, kidnaped Sachin on June 21 and later killed him.
After his interrogation, Aswani and Bansal were arrested from Dayalbagh and Sadar Bazar localities respectively and the car used in the crime was seized.
Aswani said that the victim owed him Rs 40 lakh so he decided to kidnap him in order to get his money back.