The bodies of a businessman’s twin sons kidnapped from their school in Madhya Pradesh about a fortnight back were fished out of the Yamuna on Sunday in a crime that sparked outrage amid allegations that the main accused had BJP links.

A BJP leader denied the claim, saying it was possible that the suspect falsely claimed an association with the party.

Police picked up all the six suspects after one of them, a former private tutor of the kids, took investigators to the spot where the six-year-olds were thrown into the river, their legs and hands tied with chains attached to heavy stones.

Priyansh and Shreyansh, sons of Brajesh Rawat, an ayurvedic hair oil trader who stays in Madhya Pradesh but operates his business in Uttar Pradesh, had been kidnapped on February 12 from Sadguru Public School on the border of Satna and Chitrakoot, a district that is spread across both states.

“The bodies were recovered on Sunday morning. The investigation is on,” Manoj Kumar Jha, superintendent of police, Chitrakoot, said.

The kids had been thrown into the river in Bakal, a village in Banda district. Banda and Chitrakoot in the Bundelkhand region are both dacoit-infested areas but such a crime has rarely been heard of there.

A police officer in Lucknow said the kidnappers had demanded Rs 2 crore as ransom. According to reports, Chanchal Shekhar, inspector-general of Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, said the father of the victims had paid part of the ransom money. A joint police team from both states recovered Rs 17.67 lakh from the six accused who are in the custody of Satna police in Madhya Pradesh.

A police officer in Lucknow said Padm Kant Shukla, the main accused, was a BJP activist.

According to Shukla’s Facebook page, he has a BTech in information technology from Mahatma Gandhi Chitrakoot Gramodyog Vishwavidyalay, Chitrakoot. He had also posted photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh RSS leader Chandrashekhar, who is now organisational general secretary of the party in Rajasthan, and a map of united India with Pakistan and Bangladesh on his Facebook page. The page also had an appeal on behalf of Brajesh Rawat that those who could help bring back the kids would be rewarded.

A BJP leader in Lucknow said: “I belong to Chitrakoot and can say that this man doesn’t belong to our party. Maybe, he falsely used to claim his association with the BJP.”

Rohit Dwivedi, who was picked up first, was once a private tutor to the kids.