Mumbai: Crime branch traces kidnapped teenager in 48 hours flat

It took the Mumbai Crime Branch all of 48 hours to rescue a 13-year-old kidnapped from Kurla West on Friday by five people, including the boy's aunt. Officers found the teenager, who was kept hungry for two days, in an office in Shivaji Nagar on Sunday. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Dilip Sawant said, "The suspects were arrested by Unit IV based on a tip-off by an informer."

Not exactly foolproof
Ironically, the boy was rescued before the accused could ask for the ransom, as they were unable to procure a new SIM for making the call for want of mandatory documents. The boy's aunt, Shabina Khan, 27, who stayed in the same locality as his family, hatched the plan as she had been going through a financial crisis, while the boy's father, as an employee at a leading auto showroom, earns well. The accused had decided to demand R2 crore and then settle for Rs 50 lakh.

Shabina, who kept a copy of her house keys at the boy's home, had called up his mother on Friday, saying she was standing downstairs and wanted the keys, assuming that the boy's younger brother would come. However, the teenager was sent, but she wasted no time in whisking him off, with help from the other accused - Sultan Riyaz Khan, 26, a dealer in second-hand vehicles, Jahangir Haider Ali Shaikh, 28, a courier boy, William alias Sohail Ahmed Siddiqui, 33, who is unemployed, and Gufran Mohamed Arif Shaikh, 26, an autorickshaw driver whose vehicle was used to kidnap the boy. All are residents of the MHADA colony in Govandi. The group's initial plan to make money was to forge DDs; when they couldn't manage that, they decided to kidnap the minor.

A grateful dad
The teen's father, who had lodged a missing case at VB Nagar police station, said, "I never thought even in my dreams that such a thing would happen to us. We thank the Mumbai Police; because of them, our children are safe."

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