Mumbai crime: Duo kidnapped toddler, sold him to childless couple

A couple desperate for a child decided to buy one for Rs 1 lakh. The Pandharpur police, with the help of the Borivli police, have arrested two young men who kidnapped a two-year-old boy from Pandharpur, and sold him to a couple in Mumbai.

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The duo arrested for the crime have been identified as Sikhandhar Ramesh Shaikh (20) and Samadhan Waghmare (22). On Monday, they kidnapped the child of a primary school teacher from Pohar village in Pandharpur, and fled to Mumbai.

Senior Police Inspector Narayan Khaire from Borivli police station said, "Nirmala Kanojia, a housewife from Marol in Andheri, got in touch with the two men through her mother-in-law.

After the deal was struck, the two men kidnapped the son of Maruti Karade, a schoolteacher. A case was then registered with the Pandharpur police station." While the Pandharpur police were looking for the child, the two-year-old was handed over to Kanojia, in return for a payment of Rs 1 lakh.

Police Inspector Jadhav, who is attached to Pandharpur taluka, said, "In course of investigations, we came to know that two contractual labourers from the village had been missing since the day the child was kidnapped.

We got their mobile phone numbers and through their tower location, we came to know that they were in Mumbai. Soon, a team was sent to Mumbai and we arrested them with the help of the local police there."

Upon interrogation, they revealed that they had sold the child for Rs 1 lakh. Shaikh and Waghmare had been holed up in Borivli ever since they sold the child, and were picked up from there. They have been arrested under Section 363 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code.

Khaire added, "A team was sent to the couple's residence in Andheri (East), but we couldn't find them there. Later, we came to know that the woman had taken the child to her relative's place. We rescued the child from there."