On November 5, at around 4 pm Shekhar Kukreja went across the road to buy ice-cream and sweets from a shop where he was regular customer. According to the accused, he saw Shekhar crossing the street and decided to kidnap him.

``I thought I could make some quick money from the ransom,'' he later confessed. Sheikh had told Shekhar that he was his father's friend and promised him a new video game if he came with him. He had planned to take the boy to Mumbai and keep him there till he received the ransom. However on the train, Shekhar began to get restless and started crying. Scared by the attention he was attracting, Sheikh disembarked with the child at Diva station and tried to pacifyhim. Unmollified, Shekhar continued to weep and began demanding to be taken home. Sheikh took the weeping little boy down the platform and on to the tracks.

After reaching a desoltate spot, he slapped Shekhar and made him divulge his residence telephone number. When Shekhar continued crying, he strangled him and left the body on the tracks and returned to Ambivili. On Saturday, he called the Kureja family for ransom.

The family had already registered a missing persons complaint with the Ulhasnagar police. ``We had reported Shekhar missing when we got a call from the kidnapper on Saturday. He said Shekhar was safe and demanded Rs 3 lakh for his return,'' said Shekhar's father, G Kukreja. Police Inspector A M Salwi instructed the Kukrejas to ask Sheikh to come and collect the money. He was arrested as soon as he arrived. Later, he confessed to the crime, saying he did it out of desperation since he was jobless.