In a shocking revelation of the horrifying crime in which a 13-year-old boy from Mira Road was abducted and murdered in Vasai on Monday, the killers, who are unemployed, wanted to start their own businesses with the ransom money. Mayank Thakur (13) had gone missing from a playground near his house in Mira Road on 31 July.
A team led by API Prashant Gangurde, under the supervision of Senior Police Inspector Sanjay Hazare and DCP Amit Kale, arrested both the killers, identified as Afzal Mohammed Hanif Ansari (22) and Imran Noor Hasan Shaikh (25), who had befriended the boy last month.
A few days ago, they promised to give a mobile phone to the boy but asked him to bring a sim card. Immediately after the boy brought a sim card from his house, the duo took him to Naigaon on their bike. Having no place to hide him, they threw him off a bridge. But the boy survived and started shouting for help, following which the duo stabbed the boy in his stomach before strangling him to death.
The duo had demanded Rs. 35 lakh from the child's mother as ransom. Notably, the accused used the same sim card that the boy had given them. After negotiations, the amount was settled at Rs. 25 lakh. Meanwhile, the boy’s family informed the police about the ransom call. Based on electronic surveillance, CCTV camera footage and informer inputs, both the accused were held on Monday.
“Investigations revealed that the duo had conspired to abduct a wealthy target and use the ransom money to fund their own businesses. While Ansari wanted to start a salon, Shaikh planned to start a garage and get married. We are checking their background to ascertain any other crimes committed by them in the past," said Hazare.
After getting arrested, the duo also led the police to the body of the child and the bike used to commit the crime. “Our team managed to nab both the killers. But, unfortunately, we could not save the child as he was killed almost immediately after his abduction,” said an official who ruled out any drug abuse angle in the case.
Held under sections 302, 387, 120 (b) and 201 of the IPC, the duo were remanded to custody till 6 August.
