Spelling mistakes in ransom message lead to an 8-yr-old's murderer's arrest

Spelling mistakes in a ransom message have led to the arrest of a 22-year-old man who murdered his eight-year-old distant cousin in Uttar Pradesh. The man had written 'police' as 'pulish' and 'Sitapur' as 'Seeta-pur' in the message. The accused, identified as Ram Pratap Singh, had allegedly kidnapped the eight-year-old from his grandmother’s house on October 26. The same day, he, using a stolen phone, sent a message to the boy’s father, demanding Rs 2 lakh for his release. In the message, he wrote: ‘Do lakh rupay Seeta-Pur lekar pahuchiye. Pulish ko nahi batana nahi to haatya kar denge.’ The message’s English translation is ‘Reach Sitapur with Rs 2 lakh. Don’t inform the police or your son will be murdered.’

Police said that on November 4, the family lodged a missing complaint at Beniganj police station, following which an investigation was initiated.

“We swiftly formed teams to trace the kidnapped boy and called back on the same number but it was switched off. The cyber-surveillance cell was roped in and we detained the subscriber, who seemed illiterate and unable to write SMSes,” Hardoi superintendent of police Anurag Vats told The Times of India.

On Saturday, police, on the basis of cues from the area’s CCTV footage and tip-offs, picked up 10 suspects including Singh. They were ordered to write: ‘Main police main bharti hona chahta hoon. Main Hardoi se Sitapur daud kar ja sakta hoon’ (I want a police job. I can run from Hardoi to Sitapur). Singh again spelt police as ‘pulish’ and Sitapur as ‘Seeta-pur’. He was arrested immediately, TOI reported.

Meanwhile, a 25-year-old man was arrested for allegedly kidnapping and raping a 16- year-old girl from Sukinda area in Odisha's Jajpur district.

Police said that on October 15, the accused, identified Bhagaban Moharana of Bhadrak district, abducted the teenager when she was returning home. He, with the help of a woman, allegedly took her to his native place and sexually assaulted her.