Boy abducted in Tirupati found in Vijayawada

VIJAYAWADA:  The six-year-old boy from Chhattisgarh, who was abducted in Tirupati over a fortnight ago, was traced in Vijayawada on Saturday. Sivam Kumar Sahoo, who came to Tirupati along with his parents on a pilgrimage, was abducted from the link bus station at Alipiri on February 27. Police verified the CCTV footage and identified the abductor as Sivappa, a native of Puttenahalli in Karnataka.

Kidnapped boy, Sahu, safe & traced. Kidnapper left him at Durga temple in #Vijayawada. Boy will be reunited with parents tomorrow @NewIndianXpress https://t.co/Z23x8qDnMG

— TNIE Andhra Pradesh (@xpressandhra) March 13, 2021

The police launched a manhunt in neighbouring Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to nab the accused.Meanwhile, police sources said around 11 am on Saturday, some devotees visiting Kanaka Durga temple informed the local traffic police constables that a boy was wandering alone near the ghats. When the police showed the photo grab of the abductor to the boy, the latter told the former that it was Sivappa who left him at the temple.

Vijayawada police immediately informed their counterparts in Tirupati, who along with the parents of the boy, rushed to Vijayawada. The boy will be handed over to his parents once they arrive in Vijayawada, police said.Initial investigation by the Tirupati police revealed that Sivappa went into a depression after three of his four children died of health-related issues.