A chilling crime unfolded in Bijnor’s Husainpur Kala village, where a 12-year-old boy, Ayush, was allegedly killed by five minor friends after refusing to demand a Rs 5 lakh ransom from his family, police said on Friday.

The accused, all minors, were apprehended following a dramatic gunfight in a nearby forest.

Superintendent of Police Abhishek Jha revealed that Ayush’s father, Deepak, reported his son missing on Tuesday after he stormed out of home on May 6.

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Soon after, a ransom demand surfaced on Instagram, sent to a relative. Using technical surveillance, police zeroed in on five suspects—Aniket, Anmol, Akash, Nakul, and Umesh—all from the same village.

On Friday, a police team tracked the group to a forest where they planned to bury Ayush’s body. During the operation, Aniket fired at Station House Officer Shailendra, whose bulletproof jacket deflected the shot. In retaliatory firing, Aniket was injured in the leg, and all five were arrested.

Interrogation revealed a grim plot: the group, including Ayush’s close friend Aniket and a relative, pressured Ayush to make the ransom call.

His refusal led to his murder. The suspects confessed to killing him and hiding his body, which was recovered and sent for post-mortem.

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