Three neighbours lured a Class 8 boy into a vehicle during Hanuman Jayanti celebrations, strangled him within hours, and dumped his body in a sack 20 kilometres from home – all for a ransom they never collected.
By NewsRevolt India Desk | Published: April 15, 2026 | Nagpur, Maharashtra
On the evening of April 2, 2026, Atharva Dilip Nanore, a 14-year-old Class 8 student from Gittikhadan in Nagpur, left his home in high spirits. He had volunteered to participate in the Hanuman Jayanti Shobhayatra, a religious procession he was proud to be part of. His family expected him back by night. He never returned.
Thirty-six hours later, on April 4, his decomposed body was found stuffed inside a sugarcane sack near the Bharatwada overbridge flyover, approximately 20 kilometres from his home. He was identified by the volunteer identity card still on his person from the procession. On the same day his body was discovered, his school declared his Class 8 results. He had passed with distinction.
A Plot Planned at a Tea Stall
What made the murder of Atharva Nanore particularly disturbing was not merely its brutality, but its cold premeditation. Investigators later discovered that the three accused had gathered at a local tea stall in Gittikhadan in the days before the procession and finalised their plan over cups of tea. The vendor of that stall, locally known as the “Kadak Chaiwala,” was subsequently called in by Gittikhadan Police for a statement.
The accused are Jai Ramgopal Yadav, 19, the alleged mastermind and a resident near Gawalipura; Ketan alias Kunal Ramesh Shahu, 22, an electrician from Kutubshah Nagar; and Ayush Mohan Shahu, 19, a junkyard worker and scrap dealer who owned the vehicle used in the crime. None of them were strangers to Atharva. Jai Yadav was reportedly a video game partner of the boy. The other two were familiar faces from the neighbourhood. The victim knew all three. That familiarity was used as the weapon.
Their plan was straightforward in its calculation: use the festive chaos of Hanuman Jayanti as cover, lure Atharva away from the crowd, kidnap him, and demand a ransom of Rs 40 to 50 lakh from his family. Atharva’s father, Dilip Nanore, runs a vegetable stall and is also involved in small-scale money lending, which investigators believe made the family appear to the accused as a viable target.
Notably, police later revealed that Jai Yadav had first attempted the kidnapping during the Ram Navami procession but failed. He succeeded on April 2.
The Night of the Crime
At approximately 9:53 PM, CCTV footage captured Jai Yadav walking alongside Atharva in a side lane near the procession route. The footage showed Jai casually persuading the boy to step aside on the pretext of fetching a vehicle. Within minutes, Atharva was inside the car, where Kunal Shahu was already waiting. Ayush Shahu was behind the wheel.
Police say the accused administered rat poison tablets to render Atharva unconscious. It did not work. When the vehicle reached the area near Gorewada, Atharva regained full consciousness and, according to investigators, began to cry out. The three men panicked. At approximately 11:30 PM, within barely four hours of his disappearance, they strangled him to death inside the vehicle using a cloth.
They never made a single ransom call.
After killing him, the three tied his hands and feet with rope, stuffed his body into a sack, washed the vehicle thoroughly in an attempt to destroy evidence, and drove 20 kilometres to dump his body near the Bharatwada flyover.
How Police Cracked the Case
Nagpur Police launched a comprehensive investigation immediately after the family reported Atharva missing late on April 2. Hundreds of CCTV feeds across Gittikhadan and surrounding areas were analysed. The critical break came from footage recorded at 9:53 PM showing Jai Yadav walking with Atharva into a side lane. Because the boy was observed with Jai for extended periods and across multiple locations during the procession, police focused on him from the beginning.
Investigators then tracked the movement of Ayush Shahu’s Tata Ace vehicle across multiple routes using a combination of CCTV footage and call detail records. During interrogation, Jai Yadav proved a tough subject and initially denied involvement. Investigators then strategically told Kunal and Ayush Shahu that Jai had already confessed. Both broke and gave detailed statements, which in turn provided police with the evidence needed to corner Jai. All three were arrested by the early hours of April 6.
The breakthrough method, cross-examining accomplices to extract sequential confessions, was later described by senior police officials as central to cracking the case within 72 hours of the body’s discovery.
A Colony Gripped by Grief and Rage
The impact on Gittikhadan has been severe. From the moment Atharva went missing, the locality erupted. Residents blocked traffic junctions, shopkeepers shut their establishments in solidarity, and locals laid siege to the police station accusing officers of slow action. When his body was found, public grief turned to fury.
The funeral was conducted under the watch of over 150 police personnel deployed to prevent violence. Mothers in the Gawalipura and surrounding neighbourhoods told reporters they had stopped allowing their children to step outside unaccompanied. Tuition classes, community gatherings, and evening outings have been curtailed across the area as families grapple with the knowledge that the killers lived among them.
On April 8, tension flared again when a controversial video related to the case surfaced on social media and spread rapidly. A large crowd gathered outside Gittikhadan Police Station demanding action. Police arrested the person responsible for the post, identified as Viru Yadav, to restore calm.
Justice That Must Match the Crime
Atharva Nanore was a Class 8 student who had just passed his examinations. He volunteered at a religious procession out of community spirit. He was kidnapped by people he trusted, killed within hours for money that was never even demanded, and discarded 20 kilometres from home.
Three men, all under 23 years of age, made a calculated decision to end a child’s life for financial gain. They planned it at a tea stall, executed it at a festival, and failed at every subsequent step, including keeping him unconscious, collecting ransom, and destroying evidence.
Nagpur Police deserve credit for resolving the case within 72 hours of the body’s discovery. The investigation was methodical, fast, and ultimately conclusive. What must now follow is a prosecution that is equally decisive. The case must not be delayed, diluted, or lost in the ordinary pace of India’s overburdened court system. A child went to volunteer at a festival. He deserved to come home.
— NewsRevolt India | newsrevolt.in
Reported by the NewsRevolt Desk. Facts sourced from Nagpur Police statements, Times of India, Nagpur Today, and PTI reports dated April 4 to April 10, 2026.
