Ankit, a 6-year-old boy who was abducted from Patna on April 12, has been murdered, it was revealed after the police arrested the abductor, Balram Paswan, in Bihar's Siwan district.

Paswan told the police that he murdered Ankit on April 12, soon after abduction, and buried him in Chapra near the Ganga, police officials said on Wednesday, May 9.

The police have been digging to recover Ankit's body after Paswan identified a place where he is said to have buried the child.

The police have recovered a pair of shorts that Ankit had on. Earlier, they had recovered his school bag.

Paswan, who was a domestic help at Ankit's home, told the police that he and his friend Sanjay Rajak abducted Ankit and murdered him.

Ankit, a lower kindergarten student, was abducted from outside St Paul's School in Gaighat. His father Manoj Kumar Gope is a small-time businessman who also runs a beauty parlour.

Till hours before Paswan's arrest, the police were in the dark about Ankit's fate and whereabouts.

Bihar's kidnapping 'industry,' it seems, is alive and well. M P Gupta, a senior lawyer of the Patna high court, quoted a court report saying 903 cases of kidnappings took place in the state between January 1 and March 31 this year.

January accounted for 333 abductions, February for 361, March for 209.

According to officials, over 2,000 people were kidnapped last year in Bihar.