Fear of abduction, killing haunts Bihar

Fear of abduction and murder continues to haunt Bihar following the recovery of the body of a 10-year-old kidnapped schoolboy from Munger. Prashant, a Class 2 student of St. Michael school, was kidnapped a few days back and later killed by his abductors, police said Sunday. 'We recovered the boy's body on Saturday,' said the police. Prashant's killing led to mob fury as protesters ransacked the house of the alleged abductor and blocked roads. Munger town also witnessed a strike Saturday against the killing. Police said that Prashant was abducted by Utsav, a Class 10 student of Munger Zila School, with the help of his friends, to teach a lesson to the boy's parents. Utsav, who has been arrested, reportedly told the police during interrogation that he abducted Prashant after his father Pramod Kumar Pundit pressured him to pay back the Rs.200 he had borrowed from him. 'Utsav was a friend of Prashant's elder brother. He took advantage of the friendship and abducted the boy, only to kill him,' police said. Utsav had also demanded a ransom of Rs.50,000 from Prashant's family - considered a low amount in an abduction case. Last week, two youth were kidnapped in Patna and one in Nalanda district. Police are yet to trace them. Ranjeet Kumar, 19, a college student, was kidnapped from Patna and his abductors have demanded a ransom of Rs.2 million from his father for his safe return. Ranjeet's father has lodged a police complaint in connection with the kidnapping. According to the complaint, Ranjeet left for a coaching institute last Thursday but did not return. In another incident, armed criminals abducted Amarnath alias Raju in Islampur in Nalanda district. Amarnath, 21, was abducted when he was returning from a cultural show near his village. His family has lodged a police complaint too. The police suspect it a case of kidnapping for ransom. Earlier, Ravindra Kumar, an officer in the Debit Recovery Tribunal, originally a resident of Lucknow, was abducted on March 19. He was found last week in the premises of the Patna Medical College and Hospital with a fractured backbone and is undergoing treatment. The Patna High Court had early this year directed the state government to trace 144 children and 581 women who had gone missing since 2001. The court also took note of reports that 44 of the abducted children had been killed.