3 days after abduction, body of Punjab girl, 18, found with gunshot wounds

The body of the 18-year-old girl, kidnapped from the Ranjit Avenue locality three days ago in Punjab’s Amritsar, was recovered from an abandoned plot on Loharka road in the city on Friday night, police said on Saturday.

The girl, who belonged to Ajnala town, 26 km from Amritsar, was kidnapped near Vishal Mega Mart in Ranjit Avenue on Wednesday afternoon when she was on her way home after attending training at a beauty salon on Lawrence Road.

Her family lodged a complaint the same day, saying it had got a call from the kidnappers who demanded ₹20 lakh for the girl’s release.

Ranjit Avenue police station house officer (SHO) Robin Hans said, “During the investigation, we recovered the girl’s body from the abandoned plot. She was shot dead.”

The in-charge of the crime investigation agency wing of Amritsar police, inspector Sukhwinder Singh Randhawa, said a former school classmate of the girl had been arrested and the body was recovered after his interrogation.