Saptari District Police have arrested three suspects for their alleged involvement in the murder of an eight-year-old child after his abduction in Haripur-3.

Police found the body of Durga Nanada Sah, 8, son of Ram Govinda Sah of Haripur, from a septic tank 20 days after his abduction.

According to SP Dibesh Lohani, the child was found dead after his abduction. Police investigation has revealed that Sah’s neighbour Chundamani Thakur had allegedly abducted the child on November 26 by luring him with a promise to show a rabbit.

Lohani added that Thakur along his accomplices murdered the child by strangling his throat and hid the body in the septic tank of neighbour Pannelal.

Five days after the abduction and murder, Thakur sent a message on mobile phone of Durgananda’s mother and demanded a ransom of Rs 500,000 with the family and threatened to kill the child if they failed to pay the ransom or tried to inform the police.

But the child had been murdered on day he was abducted, Lohani said. He added that the police were able to arrest the accused with the help of call details.

Police made public the accused Chundamani Thakur, of Haripur-3, Sambabu Gupta, of Haripur-1, and Kapil Dev Das, of Deuri VDC-2, during a press meet organised at the District Police Office on Thursday. The body of the child recovered from the septic tank has been sent for post-mortem to BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences.