JALANDHAR June 9 — In a gruesome incident two school-going kids were kidnapped and gagged to death before being stuffed in a bag and thrown in an abandoned house in the backyard of the Doordarshan Kendra transmission tower on the Jalandhar-Nakodar road early this morning.

The two kids — Hena (9) and her brother Abhishek (6) — were allegedly kidnapped by an unidentified scooterist while they were returning to their Dhobi Mohalla house after taking tuitions in a nearby locality late last evening. Children of a dry-cleaner, the two were students of the local St Thomas Convent School.

Mystery shrouds the motive for the crime since neither any ransom money was demanded by the abductors nor any injury mark was detected on the two bodies. The post-mortem examinations were conducted at the local Civil Hospital this morning in presence of senior police officers, including Mr Gaurav Yadav, SSP, Mr Rajpal Singh and Mr Rajjit Singh, DSPs. The mouths of the two children were found stuffed with polythene bags and sealed with adhesive tape which has led the police officials to believe that death occurred due to strangulation probably the two tried to raise the alarm which may have forced the abductors to take the extreme step.

The parents of the children became suspicious when their children failed to turn up at home at around 6 p.m. “ When their mother expressed restlessness over the matter, I went to inquire about the children in and around our locality at 6.15 p.m. When I failed to locate them along with residents of the locality I conducted a search in the area on but we failed in our attempt and the matter was reported to the police at around 9.30 p.m.”, said Mr Kamal Kishore, father of the two kids, who claimed that he bore no personal enmity with anybody. Neighbouring shopkeepers also endorsed this.

The police swung into action after being informed about the incident Fifteen nakas were laid at different exit and entry points of the city. Each naka party was accompanied by a member of the victims' family. But the effort failed to yield any result. The gruesome crime came to the notice of the police when some morning walkers found two school bags lying on a road in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar near the Doordarshan Kendra transmission tower. They informed the police party on naka duty in the area at about 5.30 a.m. which launched a search in the area.

Sub-Inspector Nirmal Singh and one of the victims’ relatives stumbled on a bag containing the bodies of two children in the courtyard of an abandoned house. The police pressed its sniffer dogs into service, but it failed to get any lead. Mr Om Parkash, who was accompanying the naka party at night, said the police also recovered a briefcase containing ladies wear from one of the three rooms in the house.

Mr Kamal Kishore said while inquiring about his children's whereabouts in the locality, two school mates of Hena and Abhishek told him that the scooterist was seemingly known to Hena as she was addressing him as “chacha”. Though Abhishek was a bit reluctant to climb on to the scooter, Hena was seen persuading him to do so since the person was their “chacha”.

Meanwhile, heart-rending scenes were witnessed at the victims’ residence. A stone faced Bimla, the mother of the two children, refused to believe that she would not be able to see them again. Constantly staring at the door of her house, she told a group of ladies who consoling her, “ My children have not died. They are coming.” All efforts of the women to acquaint her with the truth failed. A large number of relatives and acquaintances thronged the house to express sympathy with the bereaved family. After the post-mortem, the bodies of two kids were laid to rest.