8 days on, childless couple held for kidnapping ragpicker’s son in Ludhiana

The accused were childless and wanted a son, therefore they targeted the ragpicker’s family that lived in a shanty in Ludhiana district and had eight children; the kidnapped infant has been handed over to his parents

Eight days after the son of a ragpicker was kidnapped, police on Saturday recovered the child and arrested a childless couple for the abduction.

The couple, who was childless, had kidnapped the ragpicker’s son eight days ago in Ludhiana. They were arrested from a forest area in Lakhimpur Kheri near the Nepal border. (HT Photo)

The accused, Juhi, 31, and her husband Avdhesh Kumar, 31, of Lakhimpur Kheri of Uttar Pradesh, kidnapped the child to fulfil their desire to have a son. The accused were been living at a rented accommodation on Chuharpur Road and were arrested from a forest area in Lakhimpur Khiri near the Nepal border.

Commissioner of police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said this was the second marriage for Juhi, while it was the first marriage for Avdhesh. Juhi has a daughter from her first marriage, who lives with her grandmother. Juhi and Avdhesh, who married four years ago, but when they could not conceive, they decided to kidnap a child.

The accused targeted Kanhaiya and his wife Rupa Devi as they were living in a shanty and had eight children. The couple carried out a recce before executing the crime. On November 14, the accused turned up at the grain market in a car and kidnapped the infant.

Commissioner of police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar handing over the kidnapped infant to his parents. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

The commissioner of police added that the police had formed separate teams to arrest the accused. “A car was captured in CCTVs. The police traced the owner of the car and questioned him. The owner of the car told the police that he had sold his vehicle to Avdhesh Kumar of Chuharpur, following which the police carried out a raid at their rented accommodation, but the couple was not there. The neighbours told police that Avdhesh and his wife had left the city on November 14, following which the police carried out raids in Lakhimpur Kheri for their arrest,”said the commissioner of police.

A case has been registered under Sections 363 (kidnapping), 365 (kidnapping to confine a person) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code has been lodged against the accused.