SURI: A 14-year-old schoolboy, obsessed with electronic gadgets, allegedly murdered his best friend's sister on Sunday afternoon to steal his new iPod.
Arka Das alias Riju first tried to hoodwink neighbours and police but eventually admitted to hitting 10-year-old Siuli Dalui in the face and throwing her 40 feet down a canal embankment. When he fou-nd that the girl was unconscious but alive, he gagged her, smashed her head with a stone and hid her body behind a hedge, police say.
The Class VIII student was unruffled during interrogation on Monday and calmly confessed to killing the girl "because she would not give him the gadget".
Arka eyed the iPod the day Sagar bought it two weeks ago. Arka and Sagar were classmates at a secondary school in Suri till Arka failed in Class VIII. They lived in the same locality, Laldi-ghipara, and their families were close to each other for years.
But that did not stop Arka — a self-confessed gadget freak — from trying to grab the iPod.
A next-door neighbour alleged that the boy was mad about gadgets and watches and had been cau-ght stealing mobile phones several times. "But we spared him every time because of his age," she said.
Sagar, who trusted Arka enough to overlook his obsessive behaviour, showed him the iPod because he knew how to load music and pictures. "We've been friends since I can recall. Last week I gave the gadget for repairs. Arka knew abo-ut it and went there with a forged letter, posing as my brother. He told the shopkeeper to hand it to him but the shopkeeper was not convinced and refused," Sagar said.
Frustrated, Arka hatched another plan to get the iPod, say police. On Sunday afternoon, he went to Sagar's house when he was not there and asked Siuli — a Class II student — to bring the iPod. She refused initially but agreed when Arka said he would take her pictures on the gadget.
The family suspected nothing because they knew Arka for years. Arka took Siuli to Tilpara, near the Mayurakshi dam, saying it would offer the best setting for photos. Once there, he tried to snatch the gadget. When Siuli resisted, he killed her, hid the body and calmly cycled home. A little later, Siuli's mother came to enquire after her but Arka said he knew nothing.
As the evening wore on and Siu-li was still missing, fear turned to panic. Under sustained questioning, Arka admitted to the crime but he tried to confuse police and took them on a wild goose chase around Suri town. Finally, he revealed the body was at Tilpara. Police retrieved the body around 2.30 am on Monday and arrested Arka. There were deep injuries on Siuli's face.
*timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/W_Bengal_Boy_murders_girl_for_iPod/articleshow/3376945.cms
Arka Das alias Riju first tried to hoodwink neighbours and police but eventually admitted to hitting 10-year-old Siuli Dalui in the face and throwing her 40 feet down a canal embankment. When he fou-nd that the girl was unconscious but alive, he gagged her, smashed her head with a stone and hid her body behind a hedge, police say.
The Class VIII student was unruffled during interrogation on Monday and calmly confessed to killing the girl "because she would not give him the gadget".
Arka eyed the iPod the day Sagar bought it two weeks ago. Arka and Sagar were classmates at a secondary school in Suri till Arka failed in Class VIII. They lived in the same locality, Laldi-ghipara, and their families were close to each other for years.
But that did not stop Arka — a self-confessed gadget freak — from trying to grab the iPod.
A next-door neighbour alleged that the boy was mad about gadgets and watches and had been cau-ght stealing mobile phones several times. "But we spared him every time because of his age," she said.
Sagar, who trusted Arka enough to overlook his obsessive behaviour, showed him the iPod because he knew how to load music and pictures. "We've been friends since I can recall. Last week I gave the gadget for repairs. Arka knew abo-ut it and went there with a forged letter, posing as my brother. He told the shopkeeper to hand it to him but the shopkeeper was not convinced and refused," Sagar said.
Frustrated, Arka hatched another plan to get the iPod, say police. On Sunday afternoon, he went to Sagar's house when he was not there and asked Siuli — a Class II student — to bring the iPod. She refused initially but agreed when Arka said he would take her pictures on the gadget.
The family suspected nothing because they knew Arka for years. Arka took Siuli to Tilpara, near the Mayurakshi dam, saying it would offer the best setting for photos. Once there, he tried to snatch the gadget. When Siuli resisted, he killed her, hid the body and calmly cycled home. A little later, Siuli's mother came to enquire after her but Arka said he knew nothing.
As the evening wore on and Siu-li was still missing, fear turned to panic. Under sustained questioning, Arka admitted to the crime but he tried to confuse police and took them on a wild goose chase around Suri town. Finally, he revealed the body was at Tilpara. Police retrieved the body around 2.30 am on Monday and arrested Arka. There were deep injuries on Siuli's face.
*timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/W_Bengal_Boy_murders_girl_for_iPod/articleshow/3376945.cms
