Bhopal, Dec 13 : A court in Madhya Pradesh on Friday announced its verdict on a case dating to November 2022 pertaining to the kidnapping and murder of an 11-year-old boy, handing the main accused a life sentence.

Pawan Sharma, owner of a private school, has been awarded life imprisonment while five other co-accused in the case were sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.

Justice Manoj Kumar, who pronounced the judgement on Friday, also imposed a fine of Rs 2.5 lakh against Sharma and Rs 1 lakh against each of five co-accused.

Notably, 11-year-old boy Aryan Sharma was kidnapped when he was playing near the R.K.D. school in Bhind district in November 2022.

The school owner (Pawan Sharma) had kidnapped the boy for ransom as he had suffered huge losses during the coronavirus period when offline schooling remained suspended.

He had even recorded a video of the minor which the police had recovered from his possession, with the intention of sending it to his parents to demand ransom.

But he couldn't send the video due to poor Internet connectivity.

The accused had strangled Aryan to death due to fear of their arrest and threw the body in a bid to destroy the evidence.

The police recovered his body two days later at an under-construction building just about 50 metres from his house in the Chandanpura area.

Six persons, including the owner of a private school (Pawan Sharma) and a local journalist, who is said to be a relative of Pawan were arrested in connection with the case, and they were booked for charges of kidnapping, murder and other charges.

The incident had become a matter of prestige for MP police as Aryan's father, Virendra Sharma, works as a constable with the Special Armed Force (SAF) and is posted in Chhattisgarh.

/IANS