Delhi: Presumed dead by his kidnappers, boy, 7, survives; rescued by cop

Shiva, 7, was abducted along with his two brothers from Bhiwadi, Rajasthan. The abductors brought them to Delhi and strangled them at a wooded area near Mehrauli. When Shiva fell unconscious, the suspects thought he had died and left him

Among the three minor siblings, who were allegedly kidnapped by their two neighbours from their house at Bhiwadi in Rajasthan, seven-year-old Shiva was the youngest and the first whom the alleged kidnappers had strangled, according to investigators.

A joint team of Rajasthan and Delhi Police recovered bodies of two children from a wooded area near the Qutub Minar Metro station. The two boys, and another of their sibling, were abducted from Rajasthan. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

When Shiva fell unconscious, the suspects thought he had died and left him in the wooded area near Andheria Mor in south Delhi’s Mehrauli, along with his two brothers who were killed in a similar manner, they added.

After gaining consciousness, the seven-year-old boy walked out, and was spotted by a policeman. A senior police officer said head constable Tara Chand, who was deployed at a police picket near Ahimsa Sthal, saw Shiva walking on the pavement.

“As the child was alone, the head constable stopped him. The boy told him his name and the name of his father but could not tell his address, and how he reached there. Chand thought that the boy may have lost his way and brought him to the Mehrauli police station,” the officer said.

The photograph of the child was circulated in the locality and on the police WhatsApp groups. It was also shared with other police districts of Delhi, the officer added.

The boy was counselled and fed at the police station, and then transferred to a child care home in Lajpat Nagar through the child welfare committee (CWC) members, he said.

On Tuesday, a Bhiwadi police team informed the Mehrauli police about the recovery of the bodies of two children -- of the three siblings kidnapped on Saturday. The station house officer (SHO) of the Mehrauli police station along with some personnel reached the spot where the bodies were found, the investigators added.

The suspects brought along by the Bhiwadi police claimed that they had strangled all the three children, and left their bodies there . However, the third body was missing, they said.

The rescue of Shiva could not be connected with the three children because the Bhiwadi police initially told the Mehrauli police that the kidnapping took place on Sunday morning, around the same time when Shiva was found, the senior police officer said.

“When we checked the FIR, we came to know that the children were kidnapped on Saturday. We showed the photograph of Shiva to Bhiwadi cops, who identified him,” added the officer.

On Tuesday, Shiva was reunited with his family, who described his survival as a “miracle” even as they mourned the death of their two other children Aman,13, and Vipin,8.