Girl, 5, kidnapped from Ganesh pandal near Bengaluru by neighbour for money, arrested

The girl was wrapped with an adhesive tape when found near Ramanagara and villagers rescued her within hours after missing.

In a horrific incident, a 5-year-old girl was kidnapped from a Ganesh pandal at Ijoor town, near Ramanagara, which is 50 km away from Bengaluru. The girl was wrapped with an adhesive tape when found and rescued by the villagers within hours after missing.

Girl, 5, kidnapped from Ganesh pandal near Bengaluru by neighbour for money, arrested

According to a report in The Times of India, 5-year-old Rekha and her father visited the Ganesh pandal near her house. While her father was busy making arrangements at the pandal, Rekha was playing with the other kids. After some time, her father noticed that Rekha was missing and alerted the villagers. The villagers immediately started searching for her, and a cop who was at the pandal also helped them.

However, after some time, the kidnapped girl’s father received a call from an anonymous number and demanded ransom. He also threatened that his daughter would be dead if he tell the cops about the incident.

With the help of a cop, he scanned the pandal's CCTV footage, and a young man was seen taking her into an under-construction building. After observing the CCTV footage again, the girl’s father said the man in the video looked like his neighbour, Darshan.

Meanwhile, villagers found the girl in an under-construction building where her mouth and hands were wrapped up with plaster. A video of villagers unwrapping the adhesive tape from the girl went viral on social media.

Darshan was soon caught by the police, and he revealed that he kidnapped the girl from pandal itself for money. He confessed that he was debt-ridden and was in need of money to clear his mounting loans. The accused also picked up the tape from pandal and decided to demand ransom from the girl’s father by abducting her. A case has been registered, and an investigation is going on.