Kidnapped child returned to parents in Hadapsar

A one-year-old child, who was kidnapped by two women on Monday morning, was returned to her mother on Wednesday morning. The child had been kidnapped from a makeshift home belonging to a roadside toyseller residing under the Gadital flyover in Hadapsar.

The child’s mother Sharmili Kale (22) had lodged a complaint with the Hadapsar police stating that some unidentified persons entered her house at 5am on Monday and took the child, while all the family members were asleep. The police had been searching for the missing child and special teams were formed to nab the suspects.

The police scanned the close circuit television (CCTV) footage at the location, but to no avail. They had also received some information that two women were seen with the child in the area by some informers. Police inspector Balkrushna Kadam said that the parents informed the police that their some unidentified persons came to their residence on Wednesday morning, left the child in the house and fled. “We are looking for the suspects and they will be arrested soon. The woman had telephoned the police that the child was returned during the wee hours by the kidnappers ,” he said.

In a similar incident, on November 18, a four-month-old baby girl was kidnapped in Hadapar after which the police had launched a manhunt and arrested a woman in the case. The child’s mother Manju Devidas More (22), a resident of Loni in Ahmednagar, had been involved in a quarrel with her husband and subsequently lodged a complaint against him with Loni police. She later decided to go to her native place in Satara and boarded a state transport bus from Ahmednagar to Satara. During the trip, Manju met a woman.

Manju informed her that she had quarrel with her husband and when they reached Swargate Bus Stand, the woman requested Manju to come to her house. The two women then went to a local hotel for snacks in Hadapsar. Manju handed over her baby to the woman and asked her to hold it for sometime. Taking advantage of her absence, the woman fled with the baby .

Manju on her return found the baby missing and lodged a police complaint with the Pune police. The detection branch found the woman with the kidnapped baby in Manjri area. The accused arrested has been identified as Aruna Rajendra Pawar (36), who is a resident of Mundhwa.

Considering such cases, the Hadapsar police have tightened their surveillance in the area and requested parents to exercise extreme caution while dealing with strangers and also be vigilant about their children.