Then Mr Delhi, now a murderer?

Four, including former bodybuilding champ, arrested for schoolboy's kidnap and murder

Four, including former bodybuilding champ, arrested for schoolboy's kidnap and murder

Once crowned Mr Delhi, it was the most disgraceful re-entry into public eye for Kunal Bhandari. On Thursday, Bhandari was arrested for kidnapping and murdering 16-year-old schoolboy Ribhu Chawla. The motive: easy money.

Acting on a tip-off, the Delhi Police nabbed four miscreants Kunal Bhandari alias Rocky, 27, Rishabh Chauhan, 24, Sukhwinder Singh alias Manni, 22, and Gaurav, 20 from Haridwar in Uttarakhand. Bhandari and Chauhan are from the Capital.u00a0

The plan

According to the police, the plan to kidnap Ribhu was hatched a week ago. Easy money was the main motive as the four accused were debt-ridden. "A few days ago, Ribhu had become friends with Bhandari and the accused realised the teenager's father was a rich man. The kidnap plan was hatched," said Ajay Kashyap, joint commissioner of police (Southern Range).u00a0u00a0

Can't face the world: The four men who were arrested by the police for kidnapping and murdering Ribhu Chawla on Thursdayu00a0u00a0 PIC/MID DAY

Action

Ribhu, a Class 11 student of KR Mangalam School in Vikaspuri, was on Tuesday returning home on a bike when he was stopped by a Wagon R car. Ribhu was dragged into the car.

After kidnapping, the accused took Ribhu to Karnal, Haryana. They changed the registration number of the car again. Around 5.45 pm, the kidnappers called up Ribhu's home from his mobile phone and demanded Rs 60 lakh as ransom. Finally, a deal was struck at Rs 20 lakh. As planned, Ribhu's father left Rs 15 lakh as the first installment at a bus stop in Delhi. However, Bhandari realised Ribhu had seen his face. So, they strangulated Ribhu and dumped his body at Vasant Kunj.

Dead booty
The police said after dumping Ribhu's body, the kidnappers divided the loot among themselves. Bhandari got the largest shareu00a0 of Rs 6,50,000, Rishabh received Rs 4,50,000 while Manni got Rs 2,50,000 and Gaurav Rs 2,00,000.

The police have recovered Ribhu's mobile phone and the Wagon R car. Rs 8,00,000 were recovered from them.

Kunal Bhandari won the title of Mr Delhi in twice in 1997 and 1998