We refused to give up hope, says family

When Karnit’s mother Alpa saw her six-year-old son safely in the arms of a police officer, she burst into tears, overwhelmed at seeing her son alive.

When Karnit’s mother Alpa saw her six-year-old son safely in the arms of a police officer, she burst into tears, overwhelmed at seeing her son alive. The family had feared the worst when they found out that Karnit had been kidnapped and had not gone wandering off as was initially believed.

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Karnit was back after 14 miserable days in a forest in UP where his abductors had kept him after taking him from outside his residence in Kandivli (West) on April 6.

Anand Shah, Karnit’s father, said, “We will never be able to show just how grateful we are to the Mumbai police for their cooperation and for finally bringing back our son safely.”

While the family continued to put on a brave face telling friends and relatives that Karnit would return alive, they still feared the possibility of that not happening. “While we refused to give up hope, as parents we were bound to be panicky and restless,” Anand said.

Karnit’s uncle Hiren said, “We never lost hope as we have never caused any harm to anybody. But, as days were passing we were becoming very scared. It is the cooperation of the Mumbai police and the people that kept our faith alive.”

Karnit didn’t seem too affected by his ordeal and happily spoke to everyone and kept smiling. The police, happy to have successfully cracked the case, gifted Karnik a toy car.

Hiren added that Karnit was born on December 20 and the police rescued him on April 20. The family will now be celebrating Karnit’s birthday twice a year.