British boy, 8, murdered in India on the day his doctor parents opened their new hospital, 'was meant to be held for ransom'



Ishan Rawal was kidnapped and found strangled in Indore, India

His doctor parents had moved from East Yorkshire to open up a hospital

Ishan disappeared during the opening ceremony of his parents' clinic

Sushanto Das, 26, has confessed to his murder, say murder detectives



Police say he panicked when he was spotted leaving the hospital with Ishan



Tragic: Ishan Rawal was kidnapped during the opening ceremony of his parents' new clinic in Indore

The man accused of killing an eight-year-old British boy in India has confessed he had intended to hold the boy to ransom but strangled him when he panicked, police have said.



Sushanto Das, 26, has told detectives that he planned Ishan Rawal’s abduction as revenge because the boy’s parents refused to give him a job at their newly built hospital.



According to police he planned to make a video of the boy and send it to Dr Arvind Rawal, 43, and his wife Nikita, 42, along with his demands.



But Das's plan went wrong when he was spotted leaving the hospital with Ishan and, realising his plan had been exposed, strangled the boy and dumped his body five miles away in woodland.



Indore Police Superintendent, Om Prakash Tripathi, said: ‘He’s confessed that he planned to keep the boy at a secure place until his parents paid the ransom for his release.



'He knew the family was rich and was going to ask for 25 Lakh Rupees (£28,000) for their son's release.



'He also said that he’d planned to make a video of the boy and send it to his parents to force them to pay the ransom.’



Dr Rawal, Nikita, and their two sons, Ishan and Rusheek only moved from Beverley, in East Yorkshire, last November, to open a new hospital in Indore, a city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.



But Ishan went missing and was killed, on June 22, the day his parents were celebrating the inauguration of their newly built clinic, the Royal Shanti Healthcare Hospital.

According to detectives, Das was known to the Rawal family and had expected a job at the hospital.



But he decided to take revenge on the Rawal family when he was refused employment.

Ishan Rawal (second from the right) with his parents Arvind and Nikita Rawal and his brother Rusheek Ishan Rawal (middle right) with his parents and his brother Rusheek who had moved to India to start a new life

Devastating: Ishan, pictured far right with his parents Drs Arvind and Nikita Rawal and brother Rusheek, was found murdered the day his parents opened their hospital in his new home country Ishan's body was discovered in woodland a few miles away from the hospital Superintendent Tripathi said that Das was spotted with Ishan on his bike driving away from the hospital by several witnesses and panicked.

He said: ‘Realising his plan had been exposed he strangled the boy and dumped his body in the woods. 'To cover his tracks and eliminate himself from suspicion he went back to the hospital’s proceeding like nothing had happened. But Police soon caught up with him.' Das, originally from the Hugli area, in East Indian state of West Bengal, came to Indore in 2003 and found work at a variety of companies. He had no criminal record. Officer Tripathi added: ‘The accused has said he acted alone but we’re still investigating all possible angles to the satisfaction of the parents.

He’s currently in judicial custody.’

Ishan's parents, who had worked at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital in the UK, are certain Das was working with someone else - who didn’t want them to work in India - and that it was they who planned the killing.

They have appealed to the British Government to put pressure on the Indian authorities to further investigate the case.

Speaking of the family’s devastation, Dr Rawal, 43, an orthopaedic surgeon, said: ‘It is our ultimate loss, and the void cannot be filled.

Ishan Rawal (pictured middle) with his parents Arvind and Nikita Rawal and his brother Rusheek A man has been arrested for murdering Ishan Rawal (right) pictured with his brother Happier times: Dr Arvind Rawal and his wife Dr Nikita Rawal from Beverley, East Yorkshire, who moved to India to set up a hospital ‘We had come to India to start a new life but now our lives are over.’ Mrs Rawal, 42, a gynaecologist, added: ‘How can someone do such a thing? We are missing a very big part of our lives that we will never get back.’ Dr Rawal said: ‘Ishan was a British national so it’s the British government’s duty to press the Indian authorities to hold a thorough probe into my son’s murder.

Tragedy: Brit Ishan Rawal, eight, was kidnapped from the opening ceremony of the hospital in Indore

'I will not believe or accept that my son was murdered because a loony didn’t get a job.’ The inauguration of the hospital was attended by a crowd of about 2,000, who were milling around the hospital when the little boy disappeared. Dr Rawal said the family began searching for Ishan when his brother, Rusheek, told him he was missing. He said: ‘There were people everywhere so it was very hectic. 'When we couldn’t find him, we reported it to the police. We had our suspicions that he had been kidnapped.’ New project: Royal Shanti hospital's Facebook page where Mr and Mrs Rawal advertised for staff ahead of the opening last month