Boy kidnapped by kin, rescued later

Relative arrested after mother gives clue

A six-year-old boy was allegedly kidnapped by a relative who wanted to negotiate a matrimonial dispute with his wife.

The boy was safely rescued within hours of his abduction and the kidnapper arrested, police said.

The incident took place on Saturday in Rangpuri Pahari, the area that had last week seen demolition of unauthorised huts. The abducted boy’s mother Sumitra works as a house maid in Vasant Kunj and is a native of West Bengal.

Her son Buppy had gone missing on Saturday afternoon. Sumitra had left home early for work and had been informed by her neighbours that Buppy was nowhere to be seen. Someone in the locality reported having last seen Buppy with a stranger at about 1 pm that day.

Police said they lodged a case and immediately constituted 10 teams to recover the boy. His mother, meanwhile, suspected the role of her niece’s husband Ashwani Das, a resident of Kotla Mubarakpur.

“Sumitra told us that Dass was involved in a matrimonial dispute with his wife. Dass had visited Sumitra’s home two months ago to enquire about his wife. When he received no information, he had threatened to kidnap Sumitra’s son,” said Prem Nath, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South).

With this lead, police raided Dass’s residence in Kotla Mubarakpur only to find him absconding.

A hunt in the nearby areas led to Das’s arrest from a liquor shop, said police. The boy who was found with Das unharmed, rescued and handed over to his mother.

“Das disclosed that he was planning to escape to his native village in West Bengal with the kidnapped child,” said Nath. The accused allegedly intended to use the boy to find his wife and then negotiate the dispute.

A contractor of whitewash jobs, Das was arrested within three hours of receiving the complaint, police claimed.