'Telangana boy was drugged before kidnapper killed him'

N Koti Reddy, Superintendent of Police, Mahabubabad, said Sagar forcefully took away Dikshith on a two-wheeler. He added that the motive behind the crime was a desire to make quick money.

Mahabubabad: A man named Sagar who the police identified as the key accused in the murder of nine-year-old Dikshith Reddy was presented before the media on Friday.

Telangana police on Thursday arrested four people in connection with the case in Mahabubabad district.

Dikshith Reddy, son of Ranjit Reddy, a reporter of a Telugu channel, was kidnapped on Sunday, October 18, and a ransom of Rs 45 lakh was demanded to release him.

The police have seized Sagar's cellphone following the arrest. According to the police, Sagar forcefully took the boy on a two-wheeler around 5.30 pm on October 18 while he was playing outside his house, said N Koti Reddy, Superintendent of Police (SP), Mahabubabad.

The police added that Sagar took Dikshith to Danamaiah hills at Annaram village in Kesamudram zone.

Sagar, according to the police, gave him sleeping pills as the boy grew paranoid and demanded to be taken home.

The accused allegedly strangled the boy to death using a t-shirt. He then went to Mahabubabad to purchase petrol and burnt the body upon return.

Reddy said the boy was killed within an hour of the kidnapping, and his body was found by police on a hill five kilometres away from Mahabubabad.

The kidnapper was an acquaintance of the family and killed the boy out of fear of being discovered.

"Ranjit Reddy's son Dikshith was kidnapped on October 18. To earn money quickly Sagar and three others kidnapped him. The boy was kidnapped and taken on a bike at 6.00 pm on Sunday. The boy might have gone with them as he was acquainted with them. The kidnappers called up the parents on the same day at 9.00 pm and demanded Rs 45 lakhs as ransom," the police officer said.