Two persons, accused in the abduction of an 11-year-old boy from Kandaghari, Kathmandu on Sunday evening, have been killed in police encounter on Monday afternoon.

Police identified the kidnappers as Ajay Tamang (24) of Nuwakot and Gopal Tamang (23) of Sindhupalchok.

According to SSP Dhiraj Pratap Singh of the Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD), a police team fanned out from the MPCD to search missing Nishan Khadka opened fire in retaliation after the duo tried to attack the police personnel at Doleshwor Jungle in Suryabinayak, Bhaktapur.

SSP Singh further informed that a team from MPCD was deputed after they got information that the kidnappers were hiding in the area near the Doleshwor Jungle.

He said that a pistol, two rounds of bullets and a mobile phone used to call Khadka’s parents to demand ransom have been recovered from their possession.

Meanwhile, Khadka was found buried in a pit dug for laying the foundation of an under-constitution house belonging to local Shyam Rawat in Madhyapur Thimi, at around 12:30 pm today.

The abductors had tied the boy’s neck and stuffed a handkerchief in his mouth, police said.

The duo abducted Khadka at 6pm on Sunday from an eatery run by his mother Chameli Khadka, a resident of Melamchi, Sindhupalchok. His father is in Malaysia for employment.

Khadka’s mother started searching for him after he did not return home till late evening. Later, she reported the incident to police.

A team comprising 150 police personnel from the Kandaghari Police Sector, the Metropolitan Police Range, Bhaktapur, Metropolitan Police Circle, Thimi and Crime Division launched a manhunt at night.

The boy was a sixth grader at the Highland Secondary School in local Town Planning.

The abductors had demanded ransom for the first time at around 9 pm.

According to SSP Bishwo Raj Pokharel of the Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, the abductors had demanded a ransom of Rs 4 million from Khadka’s parents.