Former security guard arrested for murder of five-year-old girl in Kowkoor over ₹20 lakh ransom

A former security guard who allegedly kidnapped and murdered a five-year-old girl before concealing her body in a water sump at a gated residential community in Kowkoor was arrested by the Malkajgiri police within 24 hours of the crime being reported. The accused had planned to extort ₹20 lakh from the child’s parents but decided to kill her after realising that keeping her captive until the ransom was paid would be difficult, police said.

The accused, Vikram Kumar, a native of Nalanda district in Bihar, had worked as a security guard at Villa Orchids, the same residential community where the victim, Aurelia, also known as Monu, lived with her family. His employment at the premises had ended just four days before the incident.

The victim was the daughter of Milton Fernandes Moses, 44, a research scientist. The family resided at Villa Orchids, behind Janapriya Apartments in Kowkoor.

According to the Malkajgiri police commissioner B. Sumathi, Aurelia, who was studying in PP-2, usually went cycling and played in the games zone near the clubhouse around 6 p.m. before returning home by 7 p.m. However, on Saturday (October 10, 2026), she did not return home.

When her father returned from work around 7.45 p.m., he learnt from his father that an unidentified person had called the family, claiming that the child was in his custody. Shortly afterwards, Milton received a call from the same mobile number, with the caller demanding ₹20 lakh as ransom and claiming to be in Secunderabad.

Based on his complaint, the Bolarum police registered a kidnapping case and launched a search operation. Ten special teams comprising personnel from the Malkajgiri Zone, Special Operations Team, Crimes and Special Branch were deployed to trace the child.

Investigators tracked the mobile number, call records, CCTV footage and other technical evidence. When the initial searches yielded no results, the police intensified their search within the residential community, including the clubhouse and adjoining areas.