Kidnapped boy found dead in New Mumbai

Mumbai, Aug 20 (UNI) In a shocking development, the body of kidnapped 16-year-old, Adnan Patrawala, was found this evening by police inside his own vehicle in the upmarket Palm Beach road, near Panvel, in New Mumbai.

Preliminary reports indicate the victim was strangled as early as this morning, police said.

Patrawala was missing for more than two days, when his parents reportedly received a ransom call of Rs two crore for their son's safe return.

Adnan, a Class XII student at CWC College in Mumbai, was last spotted on Saturday at his residence in Oshiwara in suburban Mumbai, before he left to meet his friends.

Subsequently, police lodged an abduction case after his worried parents registered a complaint.

Till now, three suspects -- Raj, Lala and Himanshu (all friends of the Adnan) -- have been detained, sources said adding that Himanshu is being seen as the mastermind of the kidnapping.

Police are also following another lead as the victim had apparently exchanged internet 'scraps' with an anonymous friend calling herself 'Angel' using the community website, Orkut, before he went missing.

UNI