BJP youth leader sacked after doubts over child’s abduction

Investigators working on the case said they began suspecting the mother’s role in the matter after they found gaps in the mother’s account of the kidnapping as well as clues in CCTV footage

A leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) youth wing was expelled from the party on Friday — after it appeared that the alleged kidnapping of his infant daughter was staged.

The child’s father denied having anything to do with the incident and said the claims about his wife being investigated were an attempt to harm him politically.

The BJP cited the leader’s “character and activities” in its expulsion notice even as police are probing the incident.

On Wednesday, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) leader’s wife alleged that as she was leaving Jhandewalan Mandir around 5pm, two men arrived on a motorcycle and snatched her child from her arms. A few minutes later, the child was found abandoned at a Shani temple in north Delhi’s Maurice Nagar, 5km from Jhandewalan mandir.

HT is not naming the BJYM leader or his wife to protect the child’s identity.

Investigators working on the case said they began suspecting the mother’s role in the matter after they found gaps in her account of the kidnapping and dissonance between her sequence of events and what CCTV footage suggested.

“Our technical investigation as well as local enquiries indicate that we should explore the mother’s role,” said a police officer requesting anonymity.

According to police, the reason for abandoning the child could be that this was the the third girl born to the woman and her husband, and the couple had earlier given one of their daughters for adoption to another family member.

On Friday, the child’s father said, “No one in my family ever troubled my wife for giving birth to three girls. We are an educated and well-to-do family who will lovingly raise three girls.”

Parmaditya, joint commissioner of police (central range), said, “The mother’s role is being probed, but we’re verifying all angles.”

Praveen Shankar, a spokesperson for the Delhi BJP, said the BJYM leader’s primary membership in the party was terminated and he was sacked because of the incident involving his wife.

“We weren’t satisfied with his explanation. It is improbable that a mother would take such a decision on her own and the husband wouldn’t know of it. His act was against our motto of ‘beti bachao, beti padhao’,” said Shankar.

The child’s father declined to comment on his sacking. Earlier, he denied having anything to do with the incident, and said the investigation against his wife was an attempt to harm him politically. “The police told me they had CCTV footage but they haven’t shown me anything.”

Shweta Chauhan, DCP (central), said that police received two distress calls on Wednesday about the kidnapping. Within an hour, another call was received at Maurice Nagar police station about the child being found at a nearby temple. The DCP did not respond to calls and messages seeking details on Friday.