Kidnapped child rescued from Lucknow railway station

The accused had threatened to kidnap the woman’s son after she turned down his marriage proposal multiple times, said police.

A four-year-old boy was rescued from a train at Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow railway station nearly eight hours after he was kidnapped from south Delhi’s Amar Colony by a man who had allegedly been stalking his mother, Delhi Police said on Wednesday. The accused has been arrested.

Investigators found that the accused was travelling to Ayodhya with the kidnapped child onboard the Suhaildev Express train. (Representative image)

The 24-year-old accused, identified as Sudhakar Singh from Ayodhya, befriended the boy’s mother on social media around a year ago. He had been pressuring her to leave her husband and marry him. Singh, who sells flowers for a living, had threatened to kidnap the woman’s son after she turned down his marriage proposal multiple times, said deputy commissioner of police (southeast) Hemant Tiwari.

On October 12, DCP Tiwari said that the Amar Colony police station received a call regarding the kidnapping of a minor boy while he was playing outside his house in Amar Colony. The call was made by the father. During the enquiry, the family said they suspected that Singh had a hand in the kidnapping.

“The child’s father told the police that he had spotted Singh near his house around 1 pm on Sunday. Singh fled after seeing him. Later, around 4.30 pm, the complainant’s wife informed him that Singh had allegedly kidnapped their son while he was playing outside the house. Accordingly, a case of kidnapping for murder or ransom was registered at the police station, and investigation was taken up,” added Tiwari.

“Accordingly, a police team left for Ayodhya in a car and nabbed the suspect when the train arrived at the Lucknow railway station. The child was safely rescued. Both were brought back to Delhi. The boy was handed over to his family,” added the DCP.