Varanasi, Feb 2 (IANS): The body of a nine-year-old boy, who had been missing since January 28, was found dumped behind a school building in Varanasi.

Vishal's body was found on Monday evening at Paigambarpur village under the Sarnath police circle.

On Sunday, the victim's family had received a letter which said that Vishal would be killed if a Rs 50,000 ransom was not paid within an hour.

DIG Amit Pathak said that after getting the letter, Vishal's father Manjay Kumar had gone to Chaubeypur area, as directed by the kidnappers, while a sub-inspector also followed him.

However, the father returned home after almost two hours since no one showed up.

The DIG said that the body has been sent for post-mortem and investigations are underway.

Manjay Kumar had lodged a missing complaint at the Sarnath police station on January 29 after his son went missing earlier in the day.

A case was lodged by the Sarnath police under section 363 (kidnapping) of IPC.

Pathak said that CCTV footages of the area from where the boy had gone missing, were also checked but he could not be found.

On Monday evening, some passers-by noticed the body and informed the police.

On the basis of the content of letter and initial investigations, the police suspected that the kidnapper is local and close to Manjay's family.