A 28-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly killing a five-year-old girl by strangling her in a gated community in Medchal Malkajgiri district of Telangana, police said on Monday.
According to police, the incident took place on Saturday evening at Bollaram locality and the accused has been identified as Vikram Kumar, originally from Nalanda in Bihar, who earlier worked as a security guard at that gated society, Villa Orchid society at Kowkoor.
The deceased was identified as Arelia Moses, an LKG student and daughter of Milton Fernandes and Daisy Evangelia.
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Girl was playing near clubhouse
Arelia’s grandfather, Arul Das, a retired Singareni employee, was reportedly associated with the villa community’s residents’ association. “Vikram Kumar had been working as a security guard at the gated community for the last few months, but was removed from service recently over alleged misconduct. A dispute reportedly developed between him and members of the association, with Vikram holding Arul Das responsible for his dismissal...,” the police official said.
According to police, Arelia was playing with four other children near the society’s clubhouse on Saturday evening as residents celebrated the Bathukamma festival. “At around 6.30 pm, Vikram Kumar entered the complex and told the other security personnel that he would request the association members to allow him to work again,” Sumathi said.
Vikram allegedly took Arelia from the clubhouse area to the cellar and strangled her, tied her hands and legs, fastened a heavy stone to her body and threw her into a water sump.
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Accused allegedly demanded ₹20 lakh ransom
When Arelia did not return home even after 7 pm, her family members alerted the Bollaram police. “At around 9 pm, Vikram called Arul Das and demanded ₹20 lakh, claiming that he had the girl in his custody. When Arul Das reportedly asked him to show the child over a video call to establish that she was safe, he switched off the phone,” the officer said.
Police traced the caller’s location to the Secunderabad area and examined CCTV footage from the society. Footage showing Kumar leaving the cellar alone strengthened their suspicion that the girl might still be inside the premises and subsequently her body was discovered in the water sump on Sunday morning. “The body was shifted to Gandhi Hospital for a postmortem examination...,” Sumati added.
Police said Kumar called Das again around 4 am on Sunday from a different number and repeated his ransom demand. Investigators traced the call to Patancheru after which he was taken into custody.
During questioning, Kumar allegedly admitted to killing the girl and was formally arrested on Monday and produced before a court. A murder case has been registered against him.