The traders accused the police of not trying to find Sajal, a student if Class IX, in spite of sufficient clues.

Sajal was kidnapped by unidentified men from near his house in Awas Vikas Colony. When the family called him up on his mobile, the kidnappers asked for a ransom of Rs 30 lakh. Sajal’s body was decomposed, indicating that he was killed several days ago.

Sajal’s father Vijay Sadan runs a pipe manufacturing unit and is a member of the Indian Industries Association.

Saharanpur Range DIG Anand Kumar said: “Sajal was killed on the day he was kidnapped and the demand for ransom was made to divert attention.”

The police came to this conclusion based on two facts. First, the criminals never let the family speak to Sajal. Second, the family spoke to them by calling up on Sajal’s mobile, the kidnappers never made any call. “Sajal’s cellphone had a security code to block outgoing calls. After Sajal was killed, they had no way of knowing this code,” said Kumar. Another officer said the kidnappers could not be tracked from the cellphone because the police got only a rough idea of their location. Besides, they kept the phone switched off for long.

While the police suspect enmity as the reason behind the murder, Sajal’s family denied having any enemy. One angle the police were exploring was that there may have been a fight between children, in which the elders got involved.

On January 26, Sajal left home to meet a friend in the same locality. When he did not return till 8.30 pm, Sajal’s family members called up on his cellphone. “We made over 15 calls and no one picked up. Suddenly, one of the calls was received and a man said they had kidnapped Sajal and demanded Rs 30 lakh for his safe release,” said Sajal’s uncle Vijay Sadan, who runs a hosiery manufacturing unit in Saharanpur. He added: “We spoke to the kidnappers over 10 times, but they never let Sajal speak to us.”