Trio kidnap, murder 13-year-old boy after stealing his phone

THANE: The Padgha police in Thane district have booked three people for allegedly abducting and murdering a 13-year-old boy after stealing his mobile phone worth ₹15,000 and a ₹100 rupee note from him.
The victim was lured by a biker who offered him a lift and took him to a deserted place where he and his accomplices snatched the mobile handset, strangled him and disposed of his body.
The Padgha police have charged the suspects— Nitin Wagh, 40, Padmakar Bhoi, 20, and Ajay Manje, 21, all from Chawa village near Padgha—with abduction, murder, and destruction of evidence.
According to police, the victim, a 13-year-old student at an ashram school in Shahapur Taluka, had recently come to Haryachapada to celebrate Raksha Bandhan with his uncle. On August 18, 2023, his uncle gave him ₹100 to buy Rakhi and other items, instructing him to return the next day.
The boy left home around 9am but never returned. By August 19, his uncle, assuming the boy had gone back to the ashram, learned from school officials that he had not.
The uncle, Shanta Valvi, filed a missing person report at the Padgha police station on August 21. The police reviewed CCTV footage from roads leading to the market, which showed the victim riding with three men on the motorbike. The motorbike rider was identified as Nitin Wagh, who was arrested on August 25.
During interrogation, Wagh confessed to abducting the boy, murdering him in a remote area of Wada Taluka, and disposing of the body after stealing the phone and money.
On August 28, the police, along with the accused, located the boy’s body. The three suspects were presented in court, and police custody was granted until August 30. Senior Inspector Bala Kumbhar reported that the CCTV footage confirmed the boy had accepted a lift from the motorbike rider, and the accused admitted to the murder for the phone and money. The body has been sent to Wada Government Hospital for post-mortem.