Patna, Aug. 26: A 15-year-old student of a city school was abducted and then brutally murdered by one of his close friends and his partners after being lured away with a fish meal, the chilling crime sending shockwaves through the state that has seen a spate of killings of teenagers over the last nine months.

Aditya Kumar, a student of Class X at Gyan Niketan School on Gola Road, had left his home (on Road Number-2, Nutan Nagar Colony under Rupaspur police station) on the evening of August 24, saying he was going for tuition.

The teenager was the only son of Shailendra Kumar, a district agriculture officer posted at Bettiah in West Champaran, around 200km northwest of Patna.

Aditya’s family learnt about the abduction the same evening when they got the first call, made from the boy’s own mobile phone, at 9.15pm. The caller demanded a ransom of Rs 75 lakh in exchange for Aditya’s freedom. The family members immediately lodged an FIR with the Rupaspur police station.

A little later in the night, around 2.30am, another phone call was made in which Aditya was made to talk to his family.

The boy said he had been abducted and was in danger.

Not a single phone call was made on Thursday. Police claimed arrests had been made and raids were on.

This morning, the lifeless body of Aditya was recovered from a well at Dekuli village under Punpun police station on the outskirts of Patna.

Senior superintendent of police Alok Kumar said five persons, most of them teenagers, had been arrested for plotting the abduction and killing Aditya.

But he pleaded helplessness, saying the police could do little as the boy had been killed on Wednesday itself after the second phone call was made to the family.

Among those arrested was 20-year-old Ravi Kumar, said to be one of the closest friends of Aditya.

The police claimed that it was Ravi, who, along with his friends, had plotted the abduction of Aditya as he was under the impression that Aditya came from a wealthy family. Ravi needed money for starting a business, the police said.

“Ravi is a resident of the Saraswati Vihar locality of Rupaspur. He and Aditya were close friends for four years. It was Ravi who planned the abduction and had taken the help of five more people. Four of them have been identified as Sanoj Kumar (25), Avinash Kumar (19), Sintu (20) and Saurabh (25). The sixth person is absconding,” Kumar said.

Sanoj and Sintu have earlier served sentences in connection with a dacoity case.

Having plotted the abduction, the police said, Ravi told Aditya that he wanted to give him a treat of rice and fish curry. The venue chosen for the feast was Dekuli village in Punpun where Sintu stayed.

“Aditya’s tuition classes were off for three days. He, however, told his family on Wednesday that he was going for tuition classes. Ravi picked up Aditya on his bike and they both went off to Dekuli where the meal was ready. After dropping him, Ravi returned back as he didn’t want anyone to suspect him,” Kumar said.

Before returning to Patna, Ravi instructed the other group members to kill Aditya the same day. “After the second phone call, Aditya was strangulated to death and his body was dumped into the well. They killed him as they knew that Aditya was a threat as he could identify them,” Kumar said.

The police have seized five mobile phones belonging to the kidnappers.

Gyan Niketan School, where Aditya studied, will remain closed tomorrow. “Aditya was a very well-natured boy and shy in nature. He had come from Bishop Westcott Boys’ School in Ranchi. He was a rank-holder too. I did not believe that he was kidnapped but this morning I learnt that he had been murdered. We had a condolence prayer on the school premises today,” said principal D.K. Mukherji.

Students are alarmed by the latest such murder for ransom. “Everything in today’s world goes at 3G speed. Technology is at its best but human beings are at their worst. We find kidnappers in place of friends these days. So it’s necessary to think before striking a friendship,” said Suvam Anurag of Class XI, Loyola High School.

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