4-yr-old missing for 2 days, but cops yet to file kidnap case

On Wednesday, a four-year-old boy went missing from outside his residence at Mohammad Ali Road in south Mumbai. More than 48 hours after the incident, even though there was no sign of Mohammad Shaikh alias Masoom, the Dongri police had not converted the missing persons complaint to a kidnapping case.

On Wednesday, a four-year-old boy went missing from outside his residence at Mohammad Ali Road in south Mumbai. More than 48 hours after the incident, even though there was no sign of Mohammad Shaikh alias Masoom, the Dongri police had not converted the missing persons complaint to a kidnapping case.

When questioned, VB Mukne, senior inspector of Dongri police, said, “The parents of the boy have not received any ransom call. Neither do they have enmity with anyone from the locality.”

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When asked if the boy could have kidnapped for selling, Mukne said, “The four-year-old has a habit of wandering off in the locality.”

Usually, after a child remains missing for more than 48 hours, a case of kidnapping is registered against unidentified persons. A missing persons case is not a first information report (FIR), while a case of kidnapping is taken as an FIR. If the case is not solved, it would show against the police station.

Elaborating on the series of events that led to the boy's disappearance, Mukne said, “Mohammad had gone out with his mother. When they returned home, Mohammad remained outside where he was playing with a friend.” Sometime later, Mohammad's father Murtaza and his wife went to look for him but they could not find him.

The police, however, have not got proper information from Mohammad's friends, whose version of events keeps changing, said an officer from Dongri police requesting anonymity.