Mumbai: Titwala baby rescued after kidnapper fails in second try

Representational picture

A failed child kidnapping attempt by an autorickshaw driver led the Titwala police to solving an abduction case that happened last year. On June 29, 2018, one Ambika Witkar, who is a beggar, had registered a complaint with the police after her 16-month-old baby boy was kidnapped from Titwala station. Cops said the baby was sleeping next to Witkar when the unidentified accused picked him up and escaped. Witkar then searched all over the area but that proved to be unsuccessful, following which she approached the cops and filed a kidnapping case.

Blurry images
Police inspector Balaji Pandhare of Titwala police station said, "At the time of the incident, we'd checked all the CCTV footage, but were unable to identify the accused. Through the blurry images, we identified the man's body structure and style of walking." Almost eight months later, earlier this week, cops came across another similar case at the railway station.

Same man again?
Pandhare added, "We got to know that someone tried to kidnap another boy from the same platform, but failed in his attempt. We checked the footage again and found a man wearing the uniform of a rickshaw driver loitering close to the spot in a suspicious manner. We traced the accused, later identified as Somath Pawar, and detained him for questioning. Eventually, he confessed to the crime." Cops also procured his mobile phone locations, which helped establish his presence at the same spot where the first baby was kidnapped. He confessed to selling that baby to a family in Karad for Rs 25,000. "We immediately went to Karad and brought back the boy along with the couple who had illegally adopted him," said an officer.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates