Aligarh (UP), Mar 26 (PTI) Four people were arrested here on Friday in connection with the death of a 20-year-old ITI student, who was initially thought to have been abducted, police said.

Surindra Pal Singh, a resident of Bajheda village, went missing on Tuesday after leaving home to attend classes at the Industrial Training Institute.

As his family members started a search to locate him, they received a ransom call demanding Rs 20 lakh for his release, the police said.

The call had been traced to Hyderabad city, and the police had then filed a case of abduction at the Khair police station and launched a hunt to trace him.

But Singh's body was found later that night from a canal in neighbouring Mathura district. Assistant Superintendent of Police, Rural, Shubham Patel said the ransom call was made to divert police's attention.

Following the arrests on Friday, prime accused Bhupinder confessed to killing Singh. The three other were identified as Rinku, Ratan Singh and Rahul.

The victim's identity card was found in their possession, the police said, adding that the accused were acquainted to his family.

They said the ransom was the motive behind the crime and the victim was strangled.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)