BHUBANESWAR: In a shocking incident, an unidentified miscreant allegedly stole an 18-month-old boy from the arms of his visually-impaired mother near Ram Mandir late on Saturday night.
Police said the woman, 25-year-old Jayanti Mallick stayed with her son and a five-year-old daughter at Kanya Ashram in Niladri Vihar. As per Mallick’s complaint, she visited the Ram Mandir every day along with her children to ask people for alms.
On Saturday evening too, she was standing near the temple along with her children when a miscreant allegedly approached her and tried to befriend her. Meanwhile since it was raining, she could not leave for the ashram and decided to spend the night near the temple, police said. However, the same man reportedly approached Mallick again at around 1.30 am and offered juice to her son. He then forcibly snatched the boy from her arms and fled.
Kharavela Nagar IIC Rajanikanta Mishra said, “A case was registered and investigation is underway. We are trying to ascertain if more persons are involved in the theft of the toddler. CCTV footage of the area is being examined.”