In a shocking case of betrayal and brutality, 19-year-old Aman Kumar Vats was arrested for the kidnapping and murder of his school friend Debashish Kumar, also 19, in the Gamen Colony area under Bokaro City police station.
According to Superintendent of Police Harvinder Singh, Vats lured Debashish out of his home on June 10, brought him to a rented house, and made him consume a large quantity of alcohol. When Debashish lost consciousness, Vats tied his hands and feet, recorded a ransom video using the victim’s phone, and demanded Rs 25 lakh from his family.
Fearing identification after sending the video, Vats strangled his unconscious friend to death. In an attempt to hide the body, he buried it in a water tank located in the courtyard of the rented house, covered it with soil, and planted a sapling over the grave to disguise the site.
The police were alerted after the victim’s family received the ransom video. Using mobile surveillance, they quickly located and arrested Vats. During questioning, he confessed to the murder. Police recovered an iron rod used to dig the grave, along with clothes, slippers, and liquor bottles from the scene.
Both the accused and the victim had recently completed their intermediate exams in 2024 from a private school. Debashish, who was preparing for engineering entrance exams, lived with his maternal uncle Om Prakash in Sector 3C. His father works for a private company in Odisha. Aman Vats lived in Sector 12A, where his father is employed with ESL Steel Plant.
Om Prakash said Debashish left home at 2 PM on June 10 after receiving a phone call from a friend. His phone went unreachable, and a missing persons report was filed the next day. That evening, the ransom video was received.
“Such a big crime is unlikely to have been committed by one boy alone. Police should investigate if there were others involved,” said Om Prakash.
Further investigation revealed Vats had links to cybercriminals. His bank account was used in a fraud case, with Rs 11 lakh illicitly transferred before it was frozen by Madhya Pradesh Police. This financial desperation allegedly pushed him to commit the crime.
Police seized three mobile phones, a 32 GB memory card, and an Airtel 4G SIM card from his possession. Efforts are ongoing to determine whether Vats acted alone or had accomplices.
