Police rescue 8-year-old boy from begging racket

The Kalwa police arrested a 23-year-old man who used to kidnap children and engage them in begging, Kiran Sonawane reports.

The Kalwa police arrested a 23-year-old man who used to kidnap children and engage them in begging.

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Police rescued an 8-year-old boy from the clutches of the man and are looking for other gang members.

PI Arun Sonde, Kalwa police station, said, “The 8-year-old boy Iqbal, a resident of Bhaskarnagar in Kalwa, had gone to the grocery store on October 11 to buy biscuits. When the boy did not return, his father Nafis Ansari, 29, lodged a missing person complaint at Kalwa police station and we were in the process of looking for clues in the case.”

On October 25, a boy from the locality told Ansari that he had seen Iqbal begging at Durgha Road in Mumbra.

Ansari immediately informed the police, who arrested Santosh Waghore and rescued Iqbal.

Iqbal told the police that after being kidnapped, Waghore confined him for two days along with a handicapped person in a room at Dombivli.

He said the two of them then tortured him physically and mentally until he agreed to do their bidding. Iqbal said he used to earn Rs200-250 daily from begging..

The police are now looking for the handicapped person who Iqbal mentioned about and other accomplices of Waghore.

The police said they were also checking if the accused has any connection with a child kidnapping gang.