In a case that is chillingly similar to the murder of Adnan Patrawala (2007), Akash Babarwal (2008) and Mukeem Khan (2009), the Pune police has arrested three teenagers for kidnapping their 15-year-old friend for ransom and later murdering him in cold blood.
Ironically, the accused have claimed to have been inspired by teleserials like CID and Crime Patrol, which actually aim to give out the message that crime never pays.
According to the Vishrantwadi police, the deceased, Shubham Shirke (15) lived with his family in Apte Wadi, Pune and was a Class 10 student.
On Saturday, his friends Akhil Bendre and Suyash Patil (name changed as accused are minors) called Shubham over so that they could go for a drive in the Dighi village. They were joined by Amit Nair (19), in whose car they set out.
The trio took Shubham to a hill on the outskirts of Dighi, where they bound and gagged him. Nair then called Shubham’s father Mahadev Shirke and demanded a ransom of `50,000 for his release.
“Nair met Mr Shirke near his residence to collect the first installment of `15,000 and assured him that Shubham would return safe and sound. However, when Shubham did not return till late on Saturday night, he registered a complaint of kidnapping. He had noted the number of the motorcycle on which Nair had come to meet him. The motorcycle belonged to Suyash. We then took both Suyash and Akhil into custody, after Mr Shirke said that they were both Shubham’s friends and lived in Apte Wadi itself,” said an officer with the Vishrantwadi police.
Akhil and Suyash confessed to having kidnapped and killed Shubham, and the police subsequently arrested them as well as Nair.
“Shubham was found strangled to death in a pit near the Dighi forest. The accused said that they had intended to kill him from the outset as he would have identified them, if he were released,” said M.D. Rathod, senior police inspector, Vishrantwadi police, adding, “The motive was purely to get money to have fun. The accused said that they hit upon the idea after watching CID and Crime Patrol. The minors have been remanded to magisterial custody.”