: A 20-year-old college student, missing for a week, was found dead in bushes along the Ganga floodplains in the Phaphamau area of Prayagraj on Thursday night. Police alleged that his cousin murdered him and later tried to stage the crime as a kidnapping by demanding a ₹50 lakh ransom from his family using the victim’s mobile phone.
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Two days ago, Shiv Prasad received a call from Sumit’s mobile phone. The caller claimed that Sumit had been kidnapped and demanded ₹50 lakh for his release. Police said their investigation led them to 22-year-old Shivam Rai, Sumit’s maternal cousin, a resident of Jagdishpur Kasari village. After being detained and questioned, Shivam allegedly confessed to the crime. He also led investigators to the spot where Sumit’s body had been concealed in bushes along the Ganga floodplains in Phaphamau.
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The deceased, Sumit, son of Shiv Prasad and a resident of Bhadri village under Soraon police station, was an undergraduate student at a local college. He left home on the morning of July 23 to visit a salon but did not return. His family later lodged a missing person complaint.
During interrogation, Shivam allegedly told police that he had developed feelings for Sumit’s girlfriend after meeting her once or twice through the victim. Investigators said he decided to eliminate Sumit to pursue a relationship with her. According to police, Shivam took Sumit with him on July 23 and allegedly bludgeoned him to death with a stone. He then concealed the body in the bushes. Shivam allegedly used the victim’s mobile phone to call the family and demand the ransom. Police said he did this to portray the murder as a kidnapping and mislead investigators.
ACP (Soraon)Shyamjit Singh said Sumit’s body had been recovered and sent for postmortem examination. He added that the accused had been arrested on charges of murder and remanded to judicial custody after completion of legal formalities.
