Around 50 cops carry out combing operation to rescue 3-year-old kidnapped girl
Police rescue kidnapped 3-year-old girl in Khairane village, arrest one accused. Second accused on the run. Child safe, accused in custody.
Navi Mumbai: Around 50 policemen from Koparkhairane, APMC and the crime branch carried out a combing operation on Tuesday night in Khairane village after a three-year-old girl was kidnapped from outside her house.
The police were able to rescue the child around 9.30pm and arrested one accused, Sahil Mhatre, 22, and are on the lookout for the second accused.
The incident occurred on Tuesday around 4pm when the girl was playing outside her house in Ekta Nagar, Puneet Corner when two men on a motorcycle offered her chocolate and abducted her.
When her mother, who was inside the house, realised that her child had been abducted, she alerted the police and her husband. A police team from APMC checked the footage and learnt that the kidnappers had gone towards Khairane village, after which the Koparkhairane police were also alerted.
Using the images from the footage, the police could verify the identity of the abductors, who are from the same village.
Accordingly, a team of around 50 policemen, including officers and staff, heavily combed the area. “We were worried as the child was just three years old, and her life was in danger. We wanted the child to be in safety as soon as possible,” a police officer from the combing operation team, said. “Khairane village has many drug addicts, and hence, we decided to have a heavy combing operation to rescue the child at the soonest.”
They rescued the child from a house at around 9.30 pm and arrested Mhatre. “The main accused who had planned the kidnapping fled away, and we are now looking for him. Only after he is nabbed, the exact motive is not clear,” senior police inspector Ajay Shinde from APMC police station said.
The arrested accused used to run an egg bhurji stall, while the wanted accused used to work as a helper in a bar.
“The child was safe and unharmed during the rescue and was handed over to her mother. The accused, Mhatre, was produced before the court on Wednesday and has been remanded to police custody,” Shinde said.
The accused has been arrested under section 363 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code.