Kidnap, murder inspired by YouTube flick

The accused kidnapped Abhay Modani in their efforts to make a fast buck, but ended up murdering the 15-year-old boy

Hyderabad: In a wacky development, it turns out that the sensational kidnap and murder of a 15-year-old boy was inspired by a Telugu movie, in which the protagonist earns easy money through chain snatchings and kidnappings.

According to City Police Commissioner M Mahender Reddy the three accused in the case - I Sheshu Kumar alias Sairam (20) from Kutakur village in East Godavari, P Ravi (21) from Jadupalli in Srikakulam and N Mohan (23) of Ratta Kanna village in Srikakulam have been arrested on charges of abduction and killing of Abhay Modani, son of a businessman, Raj Kumar.

He said the trio belonged to economically poor background and they left home at an early age to fulfill their dreams. The prime accused Sairam joined a company in Ranchi and then came to Hyderabad. He joined an NGO and later became a cook in the house of an elderly man at Goshamahal, where he developed friendship with teenagers in the locality, including the victim Abhay.

According to the commissioner, Sairam met a young Telugu hero through Facebook. Learning that money and some basic skills were enough to become an actor, Sairam shared it with his close friends Mohan and Ravi, who too were eager to become actors and came down to Hyderabad.

In the same month, they rented a room at Goshamahal and Sairam left his job and joined his friends for making it big in Telugu film industry. On March 14, the trio watched ‘Oka Romantic Crime Katha’ movie on YouTube, attracted by the film plot and decided to earn easy money and become actors, the commissioner said.

“Then a thought struck Sairam about Abhay, a young friend in the neighbourhood, who frequently used to change expensive mobile phones. Abhay used to share lot of information with Sairam about his family's affection, especially his father Raj Kumar’s love for him and also about their financial status,” the commissioner said, quoting the accused persons.

“The trio then hatched a plan to kidnap Abhay and demand ransom. They bought a new phone and three new SIM cards and also purchased one packing tape. Sairam used to be in touch with Abhay through WhatsApp and came to know about his movements.

On March 16, when Abhay came out on his bike (TS 07 EQ 5695), Sairam asked him to drop at his room and took Abhay to his room, where Mohan and Ravi were waiting. They offered him cold drink, diverted his mind and tied him up,” the Mahender Reddy said. “Abhay requested them not to kill him and gave his aunt’s number to Sairam to demand money, but leave him alive,” the commissioner said.

After 15 or 20 minutes, the trio found Abhay motionless. When they tried to wake him up, they found that Abhay had died due to suffocation and they were aghast at the turn of events. Perturbed by the unexpected death of the victim, the accused packed the body in a carton and wanted to drop it on their way before fleeing Hyderabad.

After abandoning Abhay’s bike at Darussalam area, they travelled to Abids in a trolley and then to Secunderabad Railway station in a passenger auto and on their way, they threw Abhay’s phone and spectacles on the road. As the auto driver refused to travel to the station, they left the carton near Alfa Hotel and the body was there for about two and half hours.

As it looked like a parcel and due to heavy public rush, nobody got suspicious about it and it was at 10 pm, the police learnt about the body packed in the box. The commissioner said the accused called for ransom after entering the train.

They demanded Rs 10 crore and the negotiation came down to Rs 10 lakh. Tracing the mobile numbers, the teams continuously tracked them and apprehended Mohan and Ravi at Srikakulam and Sairam at Berhampur in Orissa.

“Over 100 cameras have captured the accused from picking up Abhay at a tiffin centre until they abandoned his body near the railway station. We have all evidences to put them behind bars,” the commissioner said.