Agra, March 26 (IANS) He was born to a banker, but had no one to fund his luxurious lifestyle. So 16-year-old Kushagra Mukhriwale found a perfect way. He blackmailed a jeweller's 11-year-old son to steal from his father for two long years, extorting lakhs of rupees in the process.
The Class 11 student of St. Paul's Church School here was finally nabbed Friday. Estimates varied as the victim family told the police that over Rs.25 lakh had gone missing from their house in the last two years, while the juvenile offender admitted to have made just Rs.5-6 lakh.
The incident came to light when Class 7 student Kushagra Nagwani's parents found Rs.1.5 lakh missing from the home.
He was questioned by his parents and he blurted out the truth after much resistance. On Tuesday, Mukhriwale had asked his junior to steal Rs.2 lakh. First, he refused, but agreed when the former threatened to expose his earlier deeds.
"The terror stricken boy lost his cool and came out with the details of all that had happened in the past months," a police officer said.
It was then that the family contacted the police which laid a trap. The senior was asked to come to collect the money while policemen in plain clothes waited to nab him.
Police said that Mukhriwale admitted having squandered the money in five-star hotels and restaurants, leading a life of opulence at the cost of the jeweller's son - who had been scared to death all this time.
Kushagra Mukhriwale was a spoilt brat. He would attend classes only for formality - just two days a week. He would see films at the malls and eat in costly restaurants, his friends said.
Each time the junior refused, he was threatened and blackmailed. Police also recovered threatening messages on Nagwani's mobile phone.
Nagwani's family was depressed, to say the least, and told the police that for some time, the child was not his normal self. He seemed to be under some kind of fear and remained aloof and distracted.
"Not only money, the senior exploited him mentally," the child's grandfather Ramesh Nagwani told reporters.