The police identified the suspected kidnapper as Sandeep Sashikant Parab (28), a resident of Tilak Nagar, who allegedly lured her away using balloons and chocolates. (AP/Representational Image)
AFTER A six-hour search, the Mumbai Police rescued a three-year-old girl who was allegedly kidnapped from A-G Link Road in the Tilak Nagar area on February 23. Police have also arrested the suspected kidnapper.
According to police, the girl was playing outside her father’s bakery on Friday afternoon when she went missing. Her parents reported her missing at 4.30 pm to Sakinaka police, who immediately began to scan CCTV footage. They identified the suspected kidnapper as Sandeep Sashikant Parab (28), a resident of Tilak Nagar, who allegedly lured her away using balloons and chocolates.
A search was conducted in and around the area by senior police inspector Avinash Dharmadhikari. Twenty officers, 30 constables and local community members were roped in. An initial search of the Parab’s home yielded no results, police said, adding that the accused was arrested from the neighbourhood nearly six hours later. Police were alerted to the whereabouts of the accused by local residents. The girl was found in the Kurla area.
“We believe Parab caught a whiff of police involvement and chose to abandon the girl,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Navinchandra Reddy. “She was found distraught and in tears when passersby reported her to the Kurla police station. Aware of her disappearance, the Kurla police station transferred her to Sakinaka station. A medical examination of the girl, conducted at Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar, revealed no signs of physical harm. No motive for kidnapping has been established,” Reddy added.
The accused is booked under Sections 354 (molestation) and 363 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.
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