In a shocking incident, Kanpur police on Tuesday recovered the body of a noted businessman’s 16-year-old son, and arrested his tuition teacher and her boyfriend among three people on charges related to the murder. The accused sent a ransom demand of ₹30 lakh, allegedly adding the religious phrase ‘Allah Hu Akbar’ to it.
The deceased, a Class 10 student, was kidnapped on Monday afternoon while he was on the way to a coaching institute in the Swaroopnagar locality. The 16-year-old deceased’s father, Manish Kanodia, is a leading textile businessman based in Surat, while his grandfather, is also a noted businessman, based in Kanpur. The Kanpur police said the accused, Prabhat Shukla, the victim’s tuition teacher’s boyfriend, and his friend Aryan, followed the victim for at least three days, and on Monday, around the Zarib Chowk locality, offered a lift to the victim, took him to his house, gave sleeping pills in coffee, before killing him.
“Our investigation revealed that the incident happened between 4.30 p.m. to 5.15 p.m. on Monday. Our forensic team also examined the spot. It seems the letter of ransom was given after the murder to divert the attention of police. We are trying to ascertain the reason and motive of the crime. The investigation is on going. All three accused are in custody,” Anand Prakash Tiwari, Inspector General (IG), Kanpur, said.
Opposition parties reacted sharply over the demand in the ransom letter being linked to a particular community. “In the case of kidnapping and murder of a textile businessman’s son in Kanpur, a conspiracy to demand ransom by linking the crime to a particular community and thereby diverting the attention of the police is a very serious matter. This kind of trend is extremely dangerous for the country and society, strictest action should be taken in the matter,” Leader of the Opposition in the U.P. Assembly and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, posted on the social media platform X.
