PUDUCHERRY: Ten days after a two-year-old boy was reported missing from Puducherry, the child was rescued from Bengaluru. Three people were arrested on charges of kidnapping the toddler.
According to the police, on June 27, P Sonia (27), of Netaji Nagar, Uppalam in Puducherry, who was sleeping on a platform found her two-year-old son missing. She made a living by selling toys along the Beach Road. Following a dispute with her husband, she and her son sought refuge near a private school on Mission Street. Based on her complaint, Grand Bazaar police launched a search.
"After sifting through over 100 CCTV footage, we zeroed in on a couple. They lifted the child when Sonia was asleep. After a probe, we identified the accused and learnt that they had gone to Bengaluru, where the man's family lived," said the police. Subsequently, a police team went to Bengaluru and found the accused and the child in Ramohalli on Thursday.
After rescuing the child, the police arrested P Punitha, alias Gayatri (31), her husband S Pasavaraj (32), and her brother K Raj Ganesh (30) from Melamangudi near Bhuvanagiri in Cuddalore district. The child was reunited with Sonia, while the accused were presented before a court and remanded in Central Prison in Kalapet.
An investigation revealed that Punitha had a miscarriage last year. "Since her in-laws pressed for a child, and Punitha and her husband moved to Puducherry. They stayed in Pattanur and tasked Ganesh, who works at a hotel in Puducherry, to find them a baby," police added.
One month ago, the trio encountered Sonia and tried to persuade her to give them the baby. When she refused to give them the baby, the couple and Ganesh began to tail her, to learn about her routine. Then they hatched a plan to kidnap the baby. On the night of June 27, they put their plan into action, said the police.
Meanwhile, senior superintendent of police (law and order), Narra Chaitanya, and SP (East) Swati Singh, commended the team, especially inspector T Nagarajan and SI Veeraputhiran, for their efforts in locating the child and apprehending the perpetrators.