A boy of a Bettiah-based public school, kidnapped on March 13, was found dead on Wednesday. The abductors had demanded Rs 2 lakh as ransom for the safe release of the victim, a son of an employee of a cement factory in Maharashtra.

The victim, Sachin alias Vicky, was a Class IV student of Vidya Vatika, located near Bettiah cantonment.

Bettiah superintendent of police (SP) M. Sunil Naik said acting on a tip-off, a police team conducted a raid at Basbaria village and arrested Vikas Ram. His associate, Ajay Kumar Ram, was later taken into custody from Ratanmala village under Majaulia police station of the district.

On the basis of information given by Vikas and Ajay, the police exhumed the body of the boy. Three other abductors, identified as Ram Nath Ram (resident of Ambedkar Nagar), Madan Ram (resident of Ratanmala) and Rupesh Ram (resident of Dhum Nagar), were also arrested.

The police said though the boy was abducted on March 13, his mother reported the matter to the police on March 14. Subsequently a missing case was lodged with the Town police station and investigation was started, the SP said.

The abductors, two of whom were the neighbours of the victim, pasted a hand written letter near his rented house at Teachers’ Colony on April 1, demanding Rs 2 lakh for his safe release. The police converted the missing case to a kidnapping case that day.

“All the five abductors involved in the case have been arrested and a SIM card, three cellphones and newspaper clipping of the incident have been seized,” the SP said.

During investigation it came to light that Vikas and Ajay, who were acquainted with the victim’s family, handed over the boy to Ram after his kidnapping.

Ram, having antecedents, shifted Sachin to the house of his brother, Madan Ram. Later, they killed Sachin and planned to realise the ransom money from the victim’s father Sunil Pandey, who works in a cement factory in Maharashtra.

The police said the clothes of the boy were kept intact to convince the family that Sachin was still in their custody.

“We cracked the case within 48 hours of the institution of the kidnapping case,” an investigating officer said. He, however, said they failed to recover the boy safe as the abductors had eliminated him about 10 days ago.

“Instruction has already been issued to the investi- gating officer to submit a petition in the court requesting speedy trial of the case. The officers, who were part of the team assigned to crack the case, will also be suitably rewarded,” the SP told The Telegraph.

This is the second incident of death of an abducted boy in Bettiah in the recent past. Earlier, Jitendra Prasad, a student of Intermediate, was abducted from Kuswaha Tola and subsequently eliminated. His body was recovered from the Sikrahna police station area.

“A new modus operandi of the abductors has come to light. Instead of keeping the captives safe, the abductors prefer to kill them and then realise ransom money from their families,” a police officer said.