VIJAYAWADA: Machilipatnam police traced a missing 18-months-old boy in less than ten hours in Vijayawada bus station on Monday around 7 am. The boy was kidnapped on a busy street near Municipal Park in Machilipatnam on Sunday around 9 pm.
According to Krishna district superintendent of police (SP) Sarwasreshta Tripathi, the missing boy, Shaik Waris Ali, along with his parents, Shaik Alijaan (29) and Bibi Saida (25) came to a shopping complex near Municipal Park to purchase chappals. While the parents were inquiring about the price, one Shanni Munissa (56) took advantage of the situation and after luring the boy with chocolates and balloons, escaped from the scene.
After conducting a futile search for the boy, the distressed parents approached Robertson police officials and lodged a missing complaint.With the help of CCTV cameras installed in one of the shops in the complex, police found one lady carrying the boy. The same lady was seen in Machilipatnam bus station catching a Vijayawada bus. Quickly, police contacted Pundit Nehru Bus Station (PNBS) officials and intimated the bus conductor to catch the lady red-handed.
“Shanni Munissa, who lives near Ali Jaan’s house, had been planning to kidnap the boy and sell the minor. With the help of Shanni’s family members, special teams were sent to all her relatives homes in Bhavanipuram, Krishnalanka and Vaddeswaram village to trace the boy. She reached Vijayawada around 11 pm but we could not trace her. With the help of Hamali workers, we found her sleeping near ANL Parcel Office counter in the arrival block,” said SP Tripathi.
On Monday, police handed over the boy to the parents. SP Tripati congratulated Traffic DSP S K Hussain, Circle inspector K Vasavi and Robertson station sub-inspector G Venkateswara Rao in tracing the boy within ten hours of disappearance.