A 13-year-old boy was kidnapped for ransom and murdered in Bengaluru by a man who knew the boy’s family members. The victim, Prajwal, lived in Vinayakanagar, Yelahanka. Police have arrested the prime accused, Bhaskar Reddy, who is also from the same locality. Investigators have revealed that the accused was allegedly under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crime.
Police say Bhaskar Reddy lured Prajwal out of his home under the pretext of buying firecrackers for a Ganesh procession. The accused took the boy in his car and later demanded money from the child’s family.
Prajwal was forced to record a video message to his parents as part of the ransom demand, according to investigators. The family was threatened and pressured to pay money for the safe return of the boy. But things turned tragic before any rescue could happen.
Police suspect that during the kidnapping, the accused assaulted the boy inside the vehicle. According to investigators, Prajwal was attacked with a hollow concrete block and sustained fatal injuries.
The murder took place inside the car itself, police said. After allegedly killing the boy, Bhaskar Reddy is said to have placed the body in the trunk of the car and attempted to flee the city to avoid arrest. Residents of the neighbourhood are shocked because both the victim and the accused were well-known to each other.
The case unravelled when the accused tried to escape toward Andhra Pradesh. He apparently lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a wall while driving it. Then he got into a number of accidents on the service road near Ballari, and local people detained him and contacted the police. Officers from Chikkajala Police Station rushed to the spot and took a look at the vehicle. What they found next was very surprising even to experienced investigators.
When police opened the trunk of the car, they found Prajwal’s body inside. Bhaskar Reddy was later found to have attempted to mislead investigators when he said the boy died from being hit by the vehicle on the road. He also claimed he took the body to Andhra Pradesh on the advice of a friend. But police found inconsistencies in his statements and concluded that the killing was planned and not an accident.
Based on initial evidence and interrogation, police concluded Bhaskar Reddy was definitely involved in the crime and arrested him. Another suspect, Elukundalawada, who is now absconding and is believed to be involved in the case, is also being sought by the police. The investigation is ongoing. The death of young Prajwal has caused grief and outrage among people in Bengaluru, with many demanding swift justice for the victim and strict punishment for those responsible.
