PRAYAGRAJ: A 14-year-old boy was abducted by two men from Shankargarh area of Prayagraj district on Saturday evening. According to police, the accused bludgeoned the boy to death in the forest of Bargad in Chitrakoot district on Sunday morning. The police arrested the criminals after an encounter, in which both the criminals and a constable sustained injuries. The abductors had demanded Rs 15 lakh ransom from the boys father, who is a transporter. Police claimed that the duo killed the boy before making the extortion call. The motive behind the crime is being ascertained, they said. Kidnappers knew the boy wellPrayagraj commissioner of police Ramit Sharma said, Shankargarh Sadar trader Pushpraj Kesarwani informed police on Saturday evening that he got a call from an unknown person seeking Rs 15 lakh ransom to free his son, Shubh Kesarwani, a student of class VII, from their clutches. The caller had asked him to come to the Bargad forest area to deliver the amount. Pushpraj informed police, following which police teams were constituted to trace the location of the boy. The boys body was recovered inside the forest area on Sunday morning. A few hours later, two kidnappers, identified as Sukhdev and Sanjay Verma, were arrested following an encounter with a joint team of police officials near Garwa Nursery road. Police seized two country-made pistols of 0.32 bore along with four live cartridges, a motorcycle without registration, clothes and the mobile phone that was used for making the extortion call. The police commissioner said Sukhdev used to come to Pushprajs house for work and was well acquainted with his son. The duo had lured the boy to the forest area on the pretext of showing him rabbits. Police also arrested Sukhdevs uncle Ganesh Chandra after his role was determined in the crime.

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