PRAYAGRAJ, Aug. 1 -- : A 20-year-old college student, missing for a week, was found dead in bushes along the Ganga floodplains in the Phaphamau area of Prayagraj on Thursday night. Police alleged that his cousin murdered him and later tried to stage the crime as a kidnapping by demanding a Rs.50 lakh ransom from his family using the victim's mobile phone.

The deceased, Sumit, son of Shiv Prasad and a resident of Bhadri village under Soraon police station, was an undergraduate student at a local college. He left home on the morning of July 23 to visit a salon but did not return. His family later lodged a missing person complaint.

Two days ago, Shiv Prasad received a call from Sumit's mobile phone. The caller claimed that Sumit had been k...