GHAZIABAD: A Class IX student of St Francis School in Indirapuram was stoned to death, allegedly over a plan hatched by his friends to kidnap him and extract a ransom from his father. Among those arrested for the murder is another schoolboy — a Class X student of St John’s School in Indirapuram.Police said 16-year-old Ayush Sharma’s body was thrown into a two-foot-deep ditch that happened to be filled with muddy water in a field in Noida’s Ecotech area and tied with stones to prevent it from surfacing. The boy’s face had been smashed with a blunt object.Ayush was killed on April 16 and his body lay in the ditch for four days before police traced the prime suspect — a 19-year-old youth identified as Virat — who led them to the spot on Friday afternoon.Virat and Ayush, police said, had met just “12-13 days” ago through the Class X student who was a common friend. Virat decided to kidnap Ayush because he desperately needed money.Ayush’s father Pramod Sharma , police said, is a manager to former Delhi MP and Congress leader Jai Prakash Agarwal.Virat’s name had been mentioned by Ayush’s father when he lodged a missing person’s complaint at Indirapuram police station on April 17. Ayush had told his mother he would step out for 30 minutes on April 16 afternoon but did not return to their Vaishali Sector 2 house. Virat, who lives in Ghaziabad’s Pratap Vihar, was detained for questioning. Police said he admitted to the murder on Friday afternoon and led them to the body.Sources said Virat had stood guarantor for facilitating a Rs 2.30 lakh loan to one of his acquaintances and was under “extreme pressure” to return the money. Ayush’s father Pramod said the family started suspecting Virat’s role when he called up Ayush’s mother on April 16. “He wanted to get my son a new mobile phone, but my wife told him sternly not to call her again. Virat later called Ayush on his phone and sought his help in preparing some PDF documents. He asked Ayush to meet him somewhere. My son left home around 2pm, saying he would be back in 30 minutes. When he did not return the next day, we lodged a police complaint,” Pramod told TOI.Information pieced together by police revealed Virat had asked Ayush to meet him outside Vaishali metro station. The two, along with the St. John’s student and another youth, roamed the area for some time and went to the field near Ecotech around 8pm. Police said Ayush was made to gulp down a drink laced with sedatives and told by Virat to call up his parents and tell them he had been kidnapped.“Ayush refused to do so, which led to a fight. In the melee, Ayush fell to the ground and hurt his head. Virat and the others feared he would reveal everything if he was allowed to go and smashed his head with stones. They dumped the body in the muddy ditch and tied stones to it to ensure it did not float,” Ghaziabad SSP Vaibhav Krishna said.Ayush did not know Virat directly but had come into his contact through the St. John’s student, who he had got to know recently as well. “The St. John’s student had saved Ayush during a quarrel with some boys and that is how the friendship began. When Virat got to know about Ayush, he hatched the plan to kidnap him and ask for ransom,” the SSP said.Police said Virat, who is unemployed, was in dire need of money.

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