18-month-old abducted from rly station found in Gadchiroli

Nagpur: Eighteen-month-old Rahul Dharawat, who was abducted from Nagpur Central Railway Station on September 13, was found in Naxal dominated Sirsi village of Gadchiroli on Saturday. Government Railway Police (GRP) said kidnapper Nevchand Gedam (30) had kept the boy at his home and returned to Nagpur.

Investigation officer Prakash Patil said Rahul's mother Saroj, who hailed from Ballarshah in Chandrapur, had left home along with her son after a tiff with her husband Harish. She was staying on the footpath. "In the early hours of September 13, when Saroj was sleeping with Rahul in the parking area at west entrance of railway station, Gedam, a beggar, picked up Rahul and left the place. Saroj started searching for Rahul when she didn't find him around on waking up. She lodged a complaint of kidnapping at GRP station," said Patil.

Cops procured the whereabouts of all beggars, vendors and labourers present at the time of the incident. Through human intelligence, cops received a tip off about Gedam.

Cops rounded him up and during sustained interrogation he confessed to his role in the kidnapping. A police team was immediately sent to Sirsi in Armori tehsil of Gadchiroli, and with assistance with local police officers, GRP rescued Rahul from the custody of Gedam's mother. Patil said Gedam had told his mother that the boy's mother had left him alone at the railway station, and there was nobody to take care of him.

Cops arrested Gedam and produced him before the court, which sent him to magisterial custody. Rahul was reunited with his parents.