RANCHI: Two children kidnapped from Ranchi were rescued on Wednesday morning, ending 13 days of tension and fear.
The children, Ansh and Anshika, had gone missing from Dhurwa and were rescued from Chitarpur in Ramgarh.
Police arrested two accused involved in the kidnapping. Both are from Aurangabad in Bihar.
Earlier, police had announced a reward of Rs 4 lakh for information leading to the safe return of the children.
A special team of Ranchi Police successfully traced and rescued the children.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren hailed police officials for their swift and effective action.
In a post on X, Soren said the successful operation reflects the efficiency and commitment of the Jharkhand Police. He also expressed relief that the children were found unharmed and said strict action would be taken against those involved in such crimes.
“Two innocent lives have been freed from the clutches of the kidnappers. How can anyone stoop so low? Personally, the last few days have been quite disturbing for me. Initially, there was no breakthrough, but the way Ranchi Police connected the dots to a similar incident in another state, tracked down the criminals and rescued the children is commendable,” Soren wrote.
A thorough investigation will be conducted into similar incidents within and outside the state, and action will be taken to dismantle the criminal gang, he further noted.
Talking to the media persons Ranchi, DGP Tadasha Mishra congratulated the police team for their courage and efficiency. She also announced that all officers and personnel involved in the operation would be rewarded.
Police suspect this incident to be part of a broader inter-state human trafficking syndicate.
The DGP added that more people could be involved and assured that the entire network would be exposed during the ongoing investigation.
The rescue was carried out as part of ‘Operation Masoom,’ under the leadership of SSP Rakesh Ranjan and special monitoring by CID ADG Manoj Kaushik.
Police are currently interrogating the arrested individuals to identify other members of the syndicate.
After the children went missing from Shalimar Market on January 2, Ranchi Police launched an intensive search operation.
Posters with their photographs were displayed across the city and on public transport vehicles.
Police officers also appealed to the public through WhatsApp statuses. Hundreds of vehicles that had visited Shalimar Market on the day of the kidnapping were identified, and their addresses were physically verified.
Three mobile numbers, including those of the children’s father and the DSP of Hatia, were made public to receive real-time information.
Seven-year-old Ansh Kumar and his six-year-old sister, Anshika Kumari, went missing on January 2 while going to a shop near their house.