Bricks tied to waist, hands and legs bound: How sacked guard drowned Hyderabad girl in sump before demanding Rs 20L ransom | Hyderabad News

Vikram, a former security guard, was arrested for the kidnapping and murder of a five-year-old girl

HYDERABAD: Police have arrested Vikram, a native of Bihar, the prime accused in the kidnapping and murder of a five-year-old girl in Kowkoor under Bolarum police station limits.The accused, a former security guard at the gated community where the girl lived, allegedly kidnapped and murdered her a day after he was removed from his job over poor conduct.He allegedly drowned the child in a water sump in the community’s cellar after tying her hands and legs and weighing her down with bricks. He then allegedly called her family, demanding a ransom of Rs 20 lakh.The incident took place on Saturday evening when the girl went to watch Bathukamma celebrations at the clubhouse. Her family began searching for her after she failed to return home.Around 7.45pm, the girl’s grandfather received a call from an unknown number. The caller claimed he had the grandfather’s grandson in his custody and demanded Rs 20 lakh, asking him to bring the money to Secunderabad.“Aapka pota mere paas hai, mujhe 20 lakh chahiye, main Secunderabad mein hoon, aake le lo,” a police official said, quoting the complaint.When the grandfather realised that his grandson was safe and cycling around the house, he confronted the caller, who disconnected the call.The accused subsequently contacted the girl’s father, a research scientist at an agriculture-based company, and made a similar ransom demand, claiming that his daughter was in his custody.The family had begun looking for the girl after she failed to return from the clubhouse. Her mother had apparently asked her son to call his sister home around 7.30pm. He returned saying she would be back in five minutes, a police official said.When the family could not find her at the clubhouse, concern turned to panic. The accused allegedly called again and asked the family to transfer the ransom to a bank account. Although the family agreed to pay, they insisted that he show the girl on a video call to establish that she was safe. He refused, police said.The family subsequently alerted police, who rushed to the community. By then, the accused had switched off his phone.Residents examined CCTV footage from the gated community and spotted the girl leaving the clubhouse, with a man following her at some distance. Investigators used the footage to piece together the sequence of events.When police traced the phone number used to make the ransom calls, they found that it belonged to a security guard employed at the society.“During questioning, the guard confessed that Vikram had entered the premises and used his phone to make a call,” said G Ramesh, assistant commissioner of police (Trimulgherry division).Another CCTV clip purportedly showed Vikram signalling to the guard before hurriedly leaving the premises.Acting on the guard’s statement, police and residents searched the clubhouse cellar and found the girl’s body in a water sump. Her hands and legs were tied, and two bricks had been tied around her waist, police said.Police had earlier taken all seven security guards employed at the society into custody for questioning as part of the investigation. Vikram was subsequently arrested.The accused had been hired by the housing society around four months ago and was removed from his job on October 9.The girl’s family has demanded stringent action against the accused. “I want the accused to die,” the distraught mother told the media, struggling to come to terms with her daughter’s death.