Girl, 3, gagged and kidnapped

A three-year-old girl was kidnapped by two bike-borne men shortly after she stepped out to buy chocolate in northeastern Bengaluru, police said.

Mamatha took Rs 2 from her father Sharanappa, a daily wage labourer, and left for a shop near her home in MCECSH Layout, SRK Nagar near Sampigehalli, around 1 pm on Wednesday.

Sharanappa and his wife, both from Raichur, had arrived in Bengaluru a few years ago to work as construction workers. The family lives in a shed.

"We have two daughters and Mamatha is the younger. She asked for money to buy chocolate. I gave her Rs 2. She stepped out but didn't return home even after 30 minutes. I went looking for her in the shop but the shopkeeper said she didn't come at all. We looked for her everywhere but didn't find her. We then a police complaint," Sharanappa told DH.

The Sampigehalli police said CCTV cameras installed in a nearby apartment had captured the kidnap. Two men riding on a motorcycle had approached the girl, gagged her with a cloth and took her away. Police said the kidnappers' faces were not clearly visible in the footage.