Delhi siblings murder: 3 sent to police custody till Mar 6

A man and his two friends, arrested for allegedly murdering two siblings after failing to get Rs 30 lakh ransom from their parents, have been remanded in three days police custody by a Delhi court.

The victims' uncle and two others, were produced before a duty magistrate who remanded the trio in police custody till March 6 after police said their custodial interrogation is required to apprehend the fourth absconding accused.

The police had sought the custody of the siblings’ uncle Amit Singh, 22, and his friends Shivam Gupta, 19, and Pankaj Kashyap, 19, to unearth the whole conspiracy and plan as well as to arrest their alleged fourth associate Abhishek.

The seven-year-old boy and his five-year-old sister were found dead near Pragati Maidan on Saturday morning by a taxi driver, four days after they were kidnapped from their school in east Delhi's Mandawali area.

The police said the four accused were eyeing on Rs 30 lakh, which the family had got in a property deal few days ago and being their relative, Singh was aware of the deal.

The police said the accused had tried to kidnap both the children on a previous occasion on February 23 but could not do so as they were absent from the school that day.

After kidnapping them on February 24, they had made ransom calls to the parents but when they saw there was little chance of getting the money, they allegedly strangulated the kids and smashed their heads with stones, the police said.  

Singh had finalised a deal for buying a flat in Mandawali and needed Rs 6 lakh immediately for clinching it, they said.

Kashyap had lost heavily in gambling and had debts of Rs 1.5 lakh and needed money to repay these, police said, adding that Gupta and Abhishek needed money. Kashyap, Gupta and Abhishek were to get a share of Rs 2 lakh each and the rest was to be kept by Singh, they said.

Ransom calls made from telephone booths near the victims' family gave police the first headway and suspicion fell on Singh, who was trying to raise money for a property deal.After Singh "confessed" to the crime, he and his two accomplices were arrested, the police said.