After the death of a 10th standard student in Guwahati, whose body was found in the jungles on the outskirts of the city, shocking details have now emerged.
Pratidin Time's reporting has now uncovered that the initial reports of the case being that of kidnap and murder, may not be entirely true. According to eyewitnesses, the accused and the deceased were seen entering the jungles together where the body was later found.
The latest reports suggest that the duo might have planned to stage the kidnapping in order to extort ransom money from the parents of the deceased.
The accused, identified as Abhishek Baruah and the deceased, Nitish Kumari Tiwari, were seen venturing into the woods together, witnesses told Pratidin Time, adding that one of them was carrying a sword.
The locals who saw the two of them, said that around 30 minutes later, only Abhishek was seen coming out of the woods. Now questions emerge that whether this was an actual kidnapping or a pre-planned extortion attempt that somehow went wrong.
It has also come to the fore that for the last six months or so, the victim was visiting the rented space of the accused in Guwahati's Birkuchi area.
Speaking to Pratidin Time, the mother of the accused Abhishek Baruah said that her son could not have done all of this alone. She said that if found guilty, her son should be punished.
Meanwhile, the accused Abhishek Baruah reportedly worked at a restaurant in the city's Beltola region. He had been working on opening his own restaurant for some time at Narengi, which is still under construction.
Even though the deceased was visiting the accused regularly for a long time, yesterday Nitish Kumar did not arrive at Abhishek's rented space.
Furthermore, the locals who witnessed the duo over some time, said that they were frequently seen going into the jungles at Amchang near Bonda on the outskirts of Guwahati. Each time they carried a sword with them.
The sword is now believed to be the murder weapon used to kill Nitish Kumar. The investigating team also uncovered the scabbard of the sword at the scene of the crime.
In the meantime, it has also emerged that the deceased student Nitish Kumar owed money to the accused Abhishek Baruah, pointing towards the possibility of the entire kidnapping incident to be staged in order to extort money from the former's family.
What Nitish's Principal Said:
Nitish Kumar Tiwari, who was a student of Maharshi Vidya Mandir in Guwahati, was absolutely normal in the days leading to his death, according to the principal of the school.
She said, "Nitish has been studying in our school since he was a child. He was a class 10 student. He did not come to school yesterday. We only contact the parents if the children miss school for three or four days at a stretch, so we did not feel the need to contact them immediately. He was a good student and also had good conduct. Late last night when we came across media reports of his kidnapping, we tried to contact the parents. They were not ready to immediately speak to us, and we could not force them, knowing the gravity of the situation."
"Initially we only took it to be a case of kidnapping, however, later as media reports showed, his body was found," added the principal.
What Nitish's Father Said:
Amidst all this, the father of Nitish Kumar said that his son had missed the school bus and did not go to school yesterday. After that he did not go to school. "At around 2 pm, I got a call demanding money. After that whatever happened, you all know," said the father.
What We Knew So Far:
Guwahati Police have made a breakthrough in the harrowing incident of kidnap and murder of 10th standard student in the city’s Bonda area and arrested the prime accused, reports emerged on Thursday.
According to the reports, one Abhishek Baruah was arrested by the police in connection with the matter. Officials informed that the accused ran a street-side shop in Guwahati’s Hatigaon locality.
The deceased was identified as a class 10 student of a school in the city. He was reportedly kidnapped on Tuesday by the accused who took him to Bonda on the outskirts of Guwahati.
Officials said that the body of the deceased was found deep in the forest area in a half-naked state. They suspect that he was stabbed to death and the body was disposed off there.
Meanwhile, the accused, who ran a shop in the Hatigaon area, allegedly knew the victim, a resident of the same area, for a long time
After kidnapping the victim, Abhishek demanded a ransom of Rs 7 lakhs for his release informed officials. However, late at night on Wednesday, the body of the victim was recovered from Bonda.
Following the recovery of the body, the police arrested the accused Abhishek Baruah last night itself. Late last night, the Crime Branch of Guwahati Police also reached Hatigaon where the team prepared a crime scene.
