SIRAHA: Authorities in Siraha district have arrested eight people, including family members and neighbors, in connection with the abduction and killing of 14-year-old Abhishek Kumar Singh in Golbazar Municipality-13, Durgapur Dangrah.

According to district police, the boy’s body was discovered early Tuesday morning in a mango orchard about 100 meters east of his home, near Arjun Basic School. Investigators believe the crime may have involved someone from the immediate neighborhood. A small pit located roughly 10 meters south of the body may have been intended for burying the victim, but rainfall apparently prevented its completion.

Abhishek went missing after leaving home following dinner. Initially, the family assumed he was with friends and delayed searching. When he did not return by the following morning, the family launched a search and notified authorities.

Village officials reported that the family also received a ransom demand of Rs. 5 crore in Hindi via mobile, threatening harm if police or journalists were informed and giving a September 25 deadline for payment.

The boy’s body has been sent to B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan for autopsy. Police have deployed trained dogs from Janakpur as part of the ongoing investigation.

Abhishek’s grandfather, Laxman Mahato, who raised him after the death of his father in an accident a decade ago, is in deep mourning. The family—including his mother, grandmother, and sister—has been grief-stricken, and the entire community is in shock. Sources indicate a longstanding dispute over family land may have contributed to the tragedy.