It was a day of rare success for Ranchi police who not only rescued a kidnapped seven-year-old, but also cracked two murder cases, one each registered at Tupudana and Sukhdeonagar police stations.
Son of a Hindustan Petroleum contractor, Krishna Mishra was whisked away from a playground near his house in Ganganagar under Sukhdeonagar thana on December 24 evening. He was found sleeping on a hay stack near Chituadag Prathmik Vidyalaya in Tupudana, 20km from city, on Thursday morning.
Police have arrested three kidnappers. While Shivanand Oraon and Rajesh Kumar Tudu were also in deep slumber beside the child, their accomplice Anil Kumar Lakra was arrested from a nearby area. All are in their twenties.
Ranchi SSP Anish Gupta said the motive behind the kidnapping was ransom. “One of the kidnappers, Shivanand Oraon, was an old employee of the boy’s father. He lured the child with a cycle ride. They kept on changing locations and managed to give ransom calls with the help of others. The demand was Rs 40 lakh for the safe return of the boy. The money was to be delivered by Friday,” Gupta told reporters at his office on Thursday evening.
One motorbike, a loaded countrymade firearm, five SIM cards and three mobile phones were recovered from the trio.
In another breakthrough, police cracked the murder of a youth whose partly burnt body was found near a pond in Madhukam on December 24.
Two accused, Shivan Choudhary alias Shubham (19) and Ashwini Kumar alias Bittu Mistry (21), were arrested on Thursday from Madhukam for the murder of Rajan Tirkey (22).
“Shubham and Rajan liked the same girl, also a resident of Madhukam. The love triangle took an ugly turn following a dispute on December 23,” SSP Gupta said.
Ranchi police also cracked the murder of 24-year-old Yogendra Mahto. A case was lodged at Tupudana police station on December 24 after Mahto was shot dead on Ring Road near a railway overbridge.
Accused Sonal Baba (19) and Mohammed Monabbar Ansari, alias Manna (20), were arrested from Balsiring Hills under Tupudana thana on Thursday along with a countrymade pistol, three live cartridges and a motorbike.
“The murder was triggered by a dispute over levy collection. The deceased was a member of the Suraj Gope gang and was shot by Gope’s rivals,” the SSP said.
Beaten to death
A 22-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death over a drunken brawl at Vishnu Chowk under Thakurgaon thana, 23km from the state capital, late on Wednesday night.
Shankar Sahu, a habitual drinker, was under the influence of alcohol around 10pm when he had some difference of opinion with a few friends who were also in an inebriated state.
“The group battered him with sticks and fled when he slumped to the ground. Passers-by found Shankar injured and called police who took him to RIMS in Bariatu. Doctors declared him brought dead,” a Thakurgaon resident said, adding that the youth was an orphan and villagers made arrangements for his last rites
Thakurgaon thana OC Minhaz Alam said an FIR had been registered and one person was being detained for questioning.
“The deceased youth worked as a loader. So did his friends. We suspect the dispute arose over sharing of payment. We are grilling one among those involved in the fatal attack,” the officer said, refusing to divulge further details.