Police have arrested a former security guard in connection with the alleged kidnapping and murder of a five-year-old girl inside a gated community at Kowkoor, under Bolarum police station limits in Hyderabad. Investigators said the child was allegedly drowned in a water sump in the community’s cellar before the accused made ransom calls to her family.
The incident occurred on Saturday evening after the girl went to the community clubhouse to watch Bathukamma celebrations. Her family began searching for her when she did not return. At about 7.45pm, the girl’s grandfather received a call from an unknown number. The caller claimed to have taken the grandfather’s grandson and demanded Rs 20 lakh, asking him to bring the money to Secunderabad, police said.
The grandfather realised that his grandson was safe and cycling near the house. The caller then disconnected, but later contacted the girl’s father, a research scientist at an agriculture-based company, and made a similar claim about having his daughter in custody. The family agreed to pay but asked the caller to show the child on a video call. Police said he refused and instead asked them to transfer the ransom to a bank account.
The family alerted police, who reached the residential complex after the accused switched off the phone. Residents and investigators examined CCTV footage from the premises and reportedly saw the girl leaving the clubhouse, with a man following her at some distance. Police traced the phone number used for the ransom calls to a security guard employed at the society.
According to assistant commissioner of police G Ramesh of the Trimulgherry division, the guard told investigators that Vikram had entered the premises and used his phone to make a call. Another CCTV recording purportedly showed Vikram signalling to the guard before leaving the complex in haste. Police had earlier taken all seven security guards employed at the society into custody for questioning.
Acting on the guard’s statement, police and residents searched the clubhouse cellar and found the girl’s body in a water sump. Police said her hands and legs had been tied and that two bricks had been fastened around her waist. The details remain part of the investigation, and the allegations will be tested through the legal process.
Police identified Vikram as a native of Bihar and said he had previously worked as a security guard at the housing society. He had reportedly been hired about four months earlier and was removed from the job on October 9 over alleged poor conduct. Police said the kidnapping and murder took place a day after his removal.
The case has brought attention to security arrangements inside gated housing complexes, where access control, staff verification, surveillance coverage and the security of common areas are managed through a combination of residents’ associations, facility managers and private agencies. The police investigation is expected to establish the exact sequence of events, the role of the detained guard and how the accused entered and moved through the premises.
