India, Aug. 27 -- A 13-year-old boy was allegedly killed by three minor acquaintances after they took him to a park on the pretext of a birthday party, with police suspecting a dispute over money led to the murder. The victim, Ayush Shukla, a Class 7 student at Kendriya Vidyalaya in Sector 24, lived with his mother and two sisters in a rented house in Sector 20. His father, Pankaj, is unwell and is currently in Lucknow for treatment. According to the family, Ayush left home around 4pm on August 16 after telling his mother and sister that he was going to a friend's birthday party. He was accompanied by two classmates from Chaura village in Sector 22. When he failed to return that night, his mother, Yogmaya, began searching for him. Also Read - H1N1 hits 2,446 in Capital Advertisement The family approached police on August 18, but Yogmaya alleged that she had to visit several police posts and stations while trying to trace her son. Five days after Ayush went missing, police recovered the decomposed body of an unidentified boy from a forested area in Sector 54 on the night of August 21. The body was sent for postmortem. According to the family, police later showed them a photograph of the body. When they reached the postmortem house on Tuesday, Ayush's mother identified her son from his clothes, belt and kalava. The family alleged that Ayush had suffered multiple knife injuries and that some body parts, including his hands and feet, were missing. They also alleged that police did not inform them after recovering the unidentified body. Also Read - Rs 2,500 promise, now in motion ADCP Noida Manisha Singh said the investigation showed that Ayush and the three minor suspects knew each other. The suspects allegedly called him to a park on the pretext of a birthday party. A dispute over a money transaction then broke out, following which Ayush was allegedly killed. Police have detained all three minors and are questioning them to establish the sequence of events and the exact role of each suspect. Meanwhile, Ayush's family has refused to accept his body and demanded strict action against the accused. His mother said she would perform the last rites only after the killers were punished. More than 50 people gathered outside the postmortem house, following which police deployed additional personnel to maintain order.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.