Pune: A five-year-old boy, Shubh Rawal, was kidnapped and murdered because his abductor needed money to buy a motorbike.

Investigations reveal that 19-year-old hotel management student named Parminder Singh was inspired by a report on a piece of newspaper on which he was served ‘bhajias’ at a tea stall near his college.

The article was about kidnapping of a boy from Hoshiarpur in Punjab for extorting Rs700,000 from his parents.

“After reading the news, Parminder thought of kidnapping Shubh and extort Rs100,000 from his parents to buy a motorcycle,” deputy commissioner of police (zone-III) Shahaji Umap said.

Singh then sought the help of a 15-year old accomplice.

Umap said Singh contacted his accomplice, who knew Rawal’s family well, on Thursday.

“The minor boy told Parminder that Shubh’s parents were earning a good salary as they had purchased a big house and could easily give him the money,” Umap said.

The duo kidnapped the boy on Sunday in an attempt to collect a ransom of Rs100,000.

However, when Rawal tried to escape, a frightened Singh chased and caught him, before strangling. When Rawal became unconscious, Singh strangulated him with his handkerchief to ensure that he was dead. He then threw him on the other side of the wall. After that, Singh went to a mall on Pashan road. He waited there for 20 minutes and later went to his house.

Rawal’s body was found on Monday morning.

Rawal was the son of a scientist couple working for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Pune Zone III Deputy Commissioner of Police Shahaji Umap said the fathers of the two youths work as security officers in the Defence Security Corps, which is entrusted with the security of the DRDO establishment here. The accused have been arrested, police said.

In another incident last Saturday, a 19-year-old college student, who had gone to a market in Haveli area with her brother, was kidnapped and repeatedly gang-raped by four men.

Police said that the brother-sister duo was waylaid at knife-point by four people near VIT College.

They dragged the girl to a secluded spot behind the college and raped her repeatedly till early Sunday morning.

The alleged rapists are still at large and a manhunt has been launched to nab them, police said.