The grandfather and father of a seven-year-old boy plotted his abduction to implicate another man to grab a share in an elderly woman’s property.

Patna police, giving details on Thursday, termed the incident one of the most shocking crimes in recent years.

Ajit Kumar, a middle-aged rice dealer, in collusion with father-in-law Nawal Kishore Sharma, got his son Ankit kidnapped on July 23. The boy is a student of Christ Mission School in Rajiv Nagar.

Ajit is being questioned, while Sharma has been forwarded to jail, police said.

“Around 5pm on June 23, Ankit and his parents, Ajit and Nibha, were walking back home from a temple in Mausam Colony area, where they stay. The area is under the jurisdiction of Rajiv Nagar police station. According to the FIR lodged on July 24, suddenly a white car stopped in front of them. Two armed men alighted and forcibly pulled Ankit into the car and sped away. The men threatened to kill Ankit if the couple dared raise an alarm,” said Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaj.

Ajit’s debts ran into lakhs and he and his wife were not keeping well.

“The family was struggling when they saw some hope. After her husband’s death, Lalvadan Devi, an elderly woman from Ajit’s ancestral village, Thakuri, in Paliganj on Patna’s outskirts, gave half her property to Ajit and the rest to Lalan Sharma, her relative staying in Gardanibagh.

A feud broke out between the two after Lalan, a contractor, objected to the division of the property. FIRs were lodged by both the parties at Paliganj police station. Ajit’s father-in-law hatched the abduction plan and shared it with his son-in-law. Once Ankit went missing, Ajit lodged a named FIR against Lalan for the act to stop him from getting a share of the property,” said the SSP.

A special team under Patna city superintendent of police (SP) Jayant Kant was formed to probe the incident.

“At the outset, files of known criminals released from jail recently were scanned and raids conducted. The statements of family members had discrepancies and contradictory. Then, Ajit’s began altering his statements. During grilling, he revealed the entire plan,” said the SP.

Ankit was held captive in room 301 of Hotel Nand in the CDA Building area under the jurisdiction of Kadamkuan police station.

The cops, acting on Ajit’s tip-off, raided the hotel and found the boy’s grandfather guarding Ankit in the room.