Three held for abducting, selling boy for ₹3 lakh

NEW DELHI

Two men were arrested for allegedly kidnapping a one-year-old boy from the roadside in Tagore Garden, west Delhi, when he was accompanied by his mother, and selling him to a woman in Bihar for ₹3 lakh, police said on Monday, adding that the woman was also arrested. The boy was reunited with the family, police said.

The incident took place around 2amon June 13, when two persons on a motorcycle snatched the child who was asleep with his family near the Tagore Garden Metro station. Deputy commissioner of police (west) Vichitra Veer said accused Manish Kumar Gupta, 27, of Narela and Mohit Tiwari, 25, of Gonda in Uttar Pradesh, were arrested on June 15 and 16, while Shobha Devi, 40, of Sitamarhi in Bihar, was arrested on June 16.

“During the inquiry, the investigating officer recorded the statement of the child’s mother Poonam Devi who said that she sells goods on a cart and sleeps on the pavement near the Metro station. On June 13, when she was sleeping next to her younger son, she felt someone grab her child from her arms and flee,” Veer said.

During probe, police scrutinised footage from over 100 CCTV cameras in the area, which led them to identify the make and colour of the vehicle used in the incident. “Based on the partially visible number, about 300 motorcycles were shortlisted and checked, leading police to accused Gupta,” the DCP said, adding he was apprehended from his residence in Narela.

Questioning Gupta led police to Tiwari, who was arrested from Gonda. Police said they sold the child to Devi, an acquaintance through relatives and friends, who wanted a child as she did not have one.