Debt-stricken CRPF Jawan kidnaps child for ransom, kills him in Gujarat – Times of India

SURAT: A debt-ridden CRPF officer kidnapped his neighbor’s eight-year-old son for ransom earlier this week and allegedly ended up killing the child in a bid to stop him from raising an alarm. Accused Shailendra Rajput was arrested from Ankleshwar town in Gujarat on Saturday.
Police said Rajput – currently stationed in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh – had incurred losses worth Rs 16 lakh in the stock market and had taken a loan. He kidnapped the child and demanded a ransom of Rs 5 lakh to repay his debt. The boy, Shubham Rajpal, was the son of an industrial worker and often went to Rajput’s house to play. On Thursday, Rajput kidnapped Shubham and put tape on the child’s mouth to prevent him from shouting or raising alarm, causing the child to faint. “Rajput then put the boy in a metal suitcase. According to preliminary investigation, the child must have died before 5 pm,” said DSP Ankleshwar Kushal Oza.
Shubham’s family reported him missing to the police around 6 pm the same day. Although Shubham had died, Rajput called the family the next morning (November 8) to demand a ransom. Police suspect that by calling the day after the kidnapping, Rajput wanted to mislead investigators and delay the investigation so he would have time to dispose of the body. Rajput planned to dump the body in a field behind his house or leave it on the terrace. The idea to misdirect the investigation came from crime shows and movies, he told police. Rajput had called the ransom from a mobile phone he found on a train. He had been using the same phone to call unknown women for the past few months. Police tracked down one of these women, who said she did not know the caller but that he was wearing an armed forces uniform during a video call.
“We then started searching for people in the area who were serving in the armed forces. We identified the suspect and when we checked his house, we found the suitcase in which the body was kept,” said DSP Oza. Police officials found Shubham’s body with the limbs tied and the mouth taped. Earlier, police had checked Rajput’s house twice after the boy’s disappearance was reported, but the suspect had hidden the trunk and his phones.