A five-year-old boy was kidnapped and murdered with bricks and a knife by a driver who worked in his father's transport business in Delhi's Narela area on Tuesday, with police suspecting that it was an act of revenge.
The body was recovered from the rented accommodation of Nitu, the accused in the case, police said.
Nitu is on the run, and multiple teams have been formed to trace him, a police official said, adding that the accused had been reprimanded by the victim's father a day ago.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Hareshwar Swami said a call about the child having been kidnapped was received at 3.30 pm at Narela Industrial Area police station.
The officer said that during the inquiry, it was revealed that the child was playing outside his house when he suddenly went missing.
Family members and neighbours started searching for him, and later, his body was discovered in Nitu's rented room nearby.
"Preliminary investigation revealed that the boy's father, the complainant, owned seven to eight transport vehicles and had employed two drivers -- Neetu and Wasim.
"On Monday evening, both drivers had an argument under the influence of alcohol, during which Nitu allegedly beat Wasim," said the DCP.
When the matter was reported to the transporter, he intervened and slapped Nitu two to four times for misbehaving, police said.
Humiliated, Nitu kidnapped the boy on Tuesday while he was playing outside the house, took him to his rented accommodation, and killed him using bricks and a knife, the DCP said.
After the incident came to light, police reached the spot and rushed the child to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead. An FIR was registered, and further investigation was launched.
"Neetu, the driver, is absconding. Multiple teams have been formed to trace and arrest him. Technical surveillance and local intelligence are being used to locate the accused. We are also checking CCTV footage to trace the accused," the officer said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
