Airoli: 8-year-old kidnapped by a known person, say cops

After a little girl was kidnapped right outside her building on Monday, cops are investigating the possibility of someone familiar having abducted her; they also suspect revenge was the motive

Investigating the kidnap of an eight-year-old girl from right outside her building in Airoli on Monday, the police suspect that the victim was likely abducted by someone familiar. Cops have now turned their scanner on a housemaid and a carpenter, both of whom had been hired by the girl’s family at some point.

On June 29, the girl went missing after she was dropped outside her building gate by her school bus. According to the cops, a child present at the scene spotted her leave in a red van with an unidentified person. The police believe this indicates that the girl knew her abductor.

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“We have learnt that the girl has a shy nature and her mother had taught her to not speak with strangers, which means she would only have gone with someone she is familiar with. The victim wouldn’t even go out of the gate without her mother’s knowledge, so it is clear that someone known to the victim must have called her outside the gate and kidnapped her,” said an official from the Rabale police station.

The victim’s mother had recently undergone a major surgery, due to which she was unable to pick up the girl from outside the building. Her father was also out of station, in Netherlands on a work trip, but is now back in the city. The cops have now taken in a housemaid and a carpenter for questioning, upon learning that they had worked for the girl’s family in the past.

The domestic help, in particular, had been fired six months ago after she allegedly stole jewellery from the family. This could be motive for the abduction, said sources. “We feel that the suspect may have kidnapped the girl in order to exact a personal grudge against the family,” said an officer, adding that the family had not received any ransom calls so far.

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