Meerut News: 17-Year-Old Boy Kills Friend Over Blackmailing With Stolen Videos Of His Girlfriend

A 17-year-old boy has been detained in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, for allegedly killing his close friend after a dispute over blackmailing, according to an NDTV report. The teenager confessed to the crime, telling the police that his friend, Abhinav, had stolen pictures and videos of his girlfriend from his phone and was using them to blackmail her.

Abhinav, who was a Class 11 student, and the accused, a Class 12 student, were neighbours and close friends. Both were preparing for engineering entrance exams and regularly travelled together to a coaching centre located about 15 kilometres from their homes. Abhinav would ride his scooter, with the accused sitting pillion.

On Saturday, the two left for their coaching class but Abhinav did not return by evening. When his parents asked the accused, he claimed not to know his friend's whereabouts. Abhinav's father, Sunil Kumar, filed a missing person complaint that night, suspecting the accused might be involved.

Police took the accused into custody and reviewed CCTV footage, which showed the two teenagers together. During questioning, the accused admitted to killing Abhinav. He revealed that Abhinav had stolen videos of his girlfriend from his phone and had been blackmailing her. The accused said his girlfriend had informed him of the situation, leading him to plan his friend's murder.

The accused told police that on Saturday, he and Abhinav sold his phone at a shop for Rs 8,000 before having a meal at a restaurant. On their way back, they stopped near a tubewell, where the accused took a hammer from his bag and struck Abhinav on the head. He continued to hit Abhinav even after he fell to the ground.

Abhinav's body was handed over to his family on Sunday. However, his relatives have refused to cremate him until justice is served. They believe the accused did not act alone and have demanded that the police investigate further.

"Police should not mislead us. They should tell us the truth, about who all were involved. We should know what happened to our boy," said Kuldeep, a relative of Abhinav as per the NDTV report.

Meerut City SP Ayush Vikram Singh assured that the police would continue their investigation. "The accused has said there were some videos of him and his girlfriend on his phone and Abhinav had stolen them. He was upset and planned this crime. We have recovered the body and the hammer. The accused is a minor and will be produced in court. We will review CCTV footage to check if anyone else was involved and take action," he said according to the same report.