10-yr-old boy kidnapped, strangled to death in Raebareli

LUCKNOW A 10-year-old Lucknow boy, who had gone to spend his summer vacations at his maternal grandparents’ house in Raebareli, was kidnapped and murdered allegedly by a person living in the neighbourhood, said Raebareli police officials on Thursday. Police have arrested one person in this connection and claimed that he kidnapped the body with intent to demand ransom but the accused unintentionally killed the boy when he started crying and shouting.

However, area locals, suspect some other motives — like voodoo activities — behind the killing as the boy’s family had not received any ransom call from the accused. They said that the police should further investigate the matter to ascertain the exact reason behind the kidnapping and the murder.

Sharing further details, Raebareli’s additional superintendent of police (ASP) Naveen Kumar Singh said that the boy, identified as Ayush Tiwari, was missing from his maternal grand parents’ house in Sambeshi village under Raebareli’s Lalganj police station limits since Wednesday morning.

The senior cop said that his maternal uncle Chotu Mishra informed the Lalganj police about the boy’s mysterious disappearance around 7.30 pm on Wednesday and the FIR under IPC section 263 was lodged immediately. He added that three police teams were constituted and a hunt was launched to search for the missing boy.

“The accused, Anshuman Awasthi, who lives barely 100 metres from the house of the boy’s maternal parents, was taken in custody on the basis of suspicion raised by the family as he was last spotted along with the victim. Awasthi confessed kidnapping and strangulating the boy to death during rigorous interrogation and later, the body was recovered from his house on Thursday morning,” he said. The ASP added, “The body has been sent for post-mortem examination and sections of murder and other charges have been added to the FIR lodged in this connection”.

Speaking on the motive behind the crime, circle officer of Lalganj, Mahipal Pathak, said that primary investigation suggested that the accused kidnapped the boy with intention to demand ransom from the family. He said that the accused, however, did not have any criminal background and it is really surprising that he suddenly planned the conspiracy to kidnap a boy and demand ransom. He said that the police will further interrogate the accused to find out his motive behind the crime.

Meanwhile, a local, Suraj Kumar, said that black magic activities are quite prevalent in the region and this, could be one of the apparent reasons behind the crime. He added that one 12-year-old girl, Neeta, was similarly murdered after being kidnapped allegedly by a man staying in her neighbour in Rasoolpur Gaharavi village under Dalamu police station limits of Raebareli on November 4, 2022.