Kidnappers kill 4-yr-old Harsha

Markapuram (Prakasam): The kidnap drama of the four-year-old boy Harsha in Bodireddipalli village of Peddaraveedu village in Prakasam district on Sunday night ended in a tragedy with the kidnappers killing the boy. The body was found in a bush near Siva temple of the village. The boy's parents Venkateswara Reddy and Koteswarmma along with the boy were sleeping outside the house during night when the boy was kidnapped. The kidnappers left a chit demanding a ransom of Rs 7 lakh and threatened to kill the boy if they informed the police. They asked them to contact on two phone numbers, which they scribbled on the chit. Police swung into action and cracked the mystery behind the kidnap and murder in a record time. Based on the two phone numbers given by the kidnappers in the chit, the police took into custody a person in the village for questioning. He revealed that the boy was strangulated to death immediately after the kidnap and thrown into the bushes near Sivalayam of the village. The ransom demand of the kidnappers even after killing of the boy is seen as a move to divert the attention of the police. The police arrested two persons and started collecting information of the gang involved in the kidnap. Police suspect that the main accused in the drama could be a man roaming the area in the guise of a sadhu for the past 10 days. Villagers demand death for culprits Meanwhile the irate villagers resorted to rasta roko in the village with the body of the boy, demanding stringent action against the culprits, including death punishment. MLA Kandula Narayana Reddy joined the protesting villagers and demanded Rs. 2 lakh ex gratia to the family of the deceased boy.