Mumbai police rescue 3-year-old girl within hours of being kidnapped; woman held

Mumbai: The Mumbai police rescued a three-year-old girl within hours of her kidnapping from outside her house in Mumbai's Worli area, and arrested a woman in this connection, an official said here.

The arrested woman was identified as Dipali Bablu Das (40), he said.

"The child was abducted around 12.30 pm on Wednesday when she was playing outside her residence. The accused woman lured the girl away by offering chocolates to her. However, a 10-year-old girl soon told the toddler's mother that she saw an unfamiliar woman taking her daughter away," the police official said.

The family immediately launched a search, but failed to trace the girl, following which they approached the police and lodged a complaint of kidnapping around 5.30 pm, he said.

Based on the complaint, the police formed multiple teams. The police examined the CCTV footage, which showed that the suspect and the kidnapped child were last seen close to Prem Nagar slum colony in Worli, he added.

"The police circulated the CCTV footage of the kidnapping across WhatsApp groups of local residents in a bid to get leads. A combing operation was also conducted in Prem Nagar area with the help of local residents, and around 8 pm, the accused woman was found in a house along with the abducted child," he said.

The girl was then rescued and the woman was placed under arrest, the police official said, adding that the motive behind the crime was being ascertained.