BENGALURU: Five people were arrested on Saturday night in connection with the kidnapping and selling of a one-and-a-half-old-year boy for Rs 80,000.
The Tilak Nagar police have traced the boy to Kolhapur in Maharashtra and brought him back.
The five arrested include a childless couple from Belagavi. The police are yet to trace Ghouse Peer, the kingpin, and his accomplice Hussain. The arrested have been identified as Adil Khan (35), owner of a mobile phone repair shop, Syed Rizwan (52), a real estate agent, both from Madanapalli in Andhra Pradesh; Ansar Pasha (38), an autorickshaw driver and his wife Firdous (32), residents of Avalahalli on Kanakapura Road.
The Abduction
On February 6, Ayesha (24), a resident of J D Nagar slum, took her son, who was suffering from dysentery, to Jayadeva Hospital.
There she was approached by her relative Ghouse Peer, who is also her neighbour. He told her that he would take the boy out to buy some toffees while she waited for the doctor. After about 30 minutes when they did not return, Ayesha went looking for them.
According to the police, she went to Ghouse Peer’s house looking for them. But when she did not find them there, she filed a complaint at the Tilak Nagar police station.
Ghouse Peer works as a helper in a fish stall and is also a part-time autorickshaw driver.
When the police could not find Ghouse Peer, they approached his third wife, who told them about his friend Hussain. The police then launched a hunt for Hussain.
When looking through his mobile contacts, they came across Adil, a mobile shop owner in Madanapalli.
A team went to Madanapalli, where they found Adil and grilled him, and he spilled the beans.
The Plot
According to Adil, Rizwan and his wife were childless and had approached him saying they wanted a baby. Adil informed Hussain about this.
Hussain and Ghouse planned to kidnap a baby and sell him to Rizwan.
However, to ensure that Rizwan did not get suspicious, Adil brought in another couple-Ansar and Firdous-to pose as the parents of the child.
“They met Rizwan and told him that they were very poor and were selling the baby because they were in dire need of money. Rizwan believed them and agreed to buy the baby from them,” senior police officials said.
Ghouse then handed over the baby to Adil, who gave him to Ansar and Firdous. They then gave the baby to Rizwan.
Rizwan took the boy to Belagavi and from there to Kolhapur, to his wife’s house. Here, they had even decided on a naming ceremony for the boy, but the police caught up with them.
The police are investigating whether Ghouse and the others have been involved in similar crimes in the past.
“They claimed that this was their first crime. Adil said that Ghouse approached him after kidnapping the baby. We are verifying these details. We are also looking for Ghouse Peer and Hussain who are the main guys behind the kidnap and sale,” Rohini Katoch, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East), said.