A newspaper photo of the boy, who was found dead in a briefcase on a passenger train at Varanasi railway station on Wednesday, has led to the identification of the victim.

Seven-year-old Akshay Verma, a resident of Bangla Bazar Colony in Lucknow, was murdered allegedly by his father Ramesh Verma’s tenants — Sunita Singh and Ajeet Singh — on November 18. While Sunita was arrested on Thursday, Ajeet is still absconding.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (East) Harish Kumar said: “After seeing Akshay’s picture in a vernacular daily in Allahabad, Abrar, a railway employee and a neighbour of the Vermas, informed them of the murder.”

“The couple was eyeing the Rs 5 lakh that Verma had received as compensation for his land acquired by the Lucknow Development Authority. They thought they will

demand a ransom after kidnapping the boy. We are yet to find out why they killed Akshay,” he added.

Akshay’s parents had lodged an FIR on November 18 in Ashiana police station after he went missing. “Akshay’s siblings had told the police that they had last seen him with Ajeet, who had taken him to his house,” Kumar said.

During interrogation, Sunita confessed to her crime. According to the police, Ajeet had taken Akshay to his house on Tuesday and strangled him. He then put the body in a suitcase, went to the Charbagh railway station and left it on a train.

Akshay’s father Ramesh Verma works as a ticket supervisor in Smriti Upvan in Ashiana. He had rented the second floor of his house to Ajeet Singh one-and-a-half years ago.

... contd.