Madhya Pradesh: Key accused in kidnap, murder of boy dies in hospital

The main accused in the alleged kidnapping and murder of a 13-year-old boy died at a hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district, police said on Monday.

After the body of the boy was found floating in Bargi dam canal on Sunday, the police arrested Rahul alias Monu Vishwakarma (30), Malay Rai (25) and Karan Jaggi (24) for the crime.

The accused, despite receiving Rs 8 lakh ransom from the boy's family, possibly killed the minor as he had recognised Vishwakarma as an acquaintance of his father, who is a transporter, a police official said.

After his arrest, Vishwakarma fell ill and was admitted to a government medical college and hospital here for treatment where he died on Sunday night, Additional Superintendent of Police G P Khandel said.

The body has been sent for post-mortem, he said.

According to the police, the boy was kidnapped from Dhanvantari Nagar area here on Thursday when he went to buy some items from a shop near his home.

On Sunday, the police found his body floating in Bargi dam canal near Bichua village, located around 20 km from here, a police official said.

It is suspected that the boy was strangulated with a piece of cloth before the body was dumped into the canal, he said.

The accused claimed they committed the crime as they were jobless and without money for the past one month, the official said.

They demanded Rs 2 crore and then settled for Rs 8 lakh, which was paid to them, but the child had been murdered by then, he said.