Bettiah: Police on Friday found the body of a seven-year-old boy from a septic tank here in the West Champaran district headquarters town, while in Motihari, the East Champaran district headquarters, cops rescued a five-year-old boy who had been kidnapped for ransom.

The seven-year-old boy, Veer Kumar Singh, a resident of Chhawani area in Bettiah, around 200km north-east of Patna, went missing Thursday evening, sparking off a frantic search. The cops found his body from a septic tank in the Jhily area, under the Town police station limits, on Friday.

West Champaran superintendent of police (SP) Jayant Kant confirmed the arrest of two persons including a known criminal, Gollu Kumar, in the case.

In the incident at Motihari, around 155km north of Patna, Shazid, 5, was abducted on Thursday from Awadesh Nagar colony under Town police station for ransom.

"We managed to rescue the boy from the Dhaka area (in East Champaran) and one woman has been picked up for interrogation," said Anand, an officer attached with the Town police station.

According to the police, the abductor had demanded Rs 10 lakh ransom.

These are only the latest in a series of incidents in the region. On January 8, a businessman was abducted and held captive for four days before police rescued him from Khairpokhara station in West Champaran.

Last year on November 28, Motihari-based businessman Amit Kumar was abducted from Bettiah. The police are still clueless about his whereabouts.