Hindi-Marathi gap helps foil kidnap bid; 1 held

An alert police officer in Mumbai saved an 8-year-old girl from a kidnapper who intended to sell her into the flesh trade. The officer noticed the girl with a man and became suspicious when he noticed their different languages and the man giving her toys and chocolates without her asking. The officer called the girl's uncle, who confirmed she had not returned from school, and the man was apprehended. The man was planning to take the girl to Bihar and sell her into the flesh trade.

Mumbai: Quick-thinking by an alert police officer on Friday saved an eight-year-old schoolgirl from the clutches of his alleged kidnapper, who intended to sell her into flesh trade.

Hindi-Marathi gap helps foil kidnap bid; 1 held

Police sub-inspector Balbheem Nanavare, who works at the Naigaon police station (Mira-Bhayanadar-Vasai-Virar police), was travelling on board the Sinhagad Express for a hearing at the district sessions court in Pune when he noticed the girl with a 30-year-old man. He noticed that while the girl was talking in Marathi, the man, who claimed to be his father, was responding in Hindi. He was also giving her toys and chocolates without her asking, which raised Nanavare’s suspicion.

“I gave her a seat next to me and asked her about her mother. She said her mother was at home, but while she was speaking, I noticed the man was trying to prevent her from giving me any information by rolling his eyes,” said Nanvare.

The policeman asked the girl for her mother’s mobile number. In response, she gave him her uncle’s mobile number. “I immediately called the girl’s uncle and questioned him. After some time, her parents called me back and told me that their daughter had not returned home from school,” said Nanavare.

He asked the girl’s father to file a complaint at Vasai east even as he nabbed the man, identified as Dayanand Kumar Sharma from Bihar, with the help of other commuters. He informed the control room, and Sharma was taken into custody by the Lohmarg police after they reached the station.

Sharma was planning to take the girl to Bihar and sell her into flesh trade, said officials. “We are now finding out if Sharma had kidnapped and sold other girls as well,” said an official.