Kidnapped 12-year-old reunited with family in Thane after 75 hours

THANE: The Thane police managed to rescue and reunite a 12-year-old boy with his parents after he was kidnapped by five people from Gujarat for Rs 1.5 crore ransom, officials informed on Sunday.
In a daredevil search and rescue operation that lasted for over 75 hours spanning various districts in Thane, Nashik, Surat, several teams from various police stations across the state chipped in to track down the accused after relentless pursuance that even included chasing the accused through dense jungles in neighbouring Palghar.
Deputy police commissioner, zone III, Sanjay Gunjal who was also part of the search operation informed the boy was kidnapped on the morning of November 9 while he was returning home in Milap Nagar, Dombivli from his tuitions.
“The boy’s parents received a ransom call of Rs 1 crore from the main accused who has several cases registered against him with the Gujarat police. After the parents informed us, we started our search operations and tracking the location of the caller. We were alerted that they were travelling in a stolen car and with two fake number plates. We realised they were moving through Kalyan and had even crossed Nashik and then turned towards Palghar. We sought assistance from police stations in the local areas and tried to intercept the accused enroute,” said Gunjal.
Realising that the police had identified their car, the accused abandoned it midway and escaped in the jungles with the kidnapped child on their way to Palghar. Accordingly, the police team along with assistance from local residents continued their hunt in the dense jungles only to be tipped off that the accused was planning to relocate to Gujarat and had dispatched his belongings from his temporary house in Palghar, said senior inspector S Bagade, Manpada police station.
Accordingly, the police zeroed in on the residence of the accused in Palghar and found the accused holed up there with his wife, paramour and relatives. The kidnapped child was immediately rescued from them and brought back to Thane and reunited with his parents.
The accused have been booked under sections 363, 364 (A) and 385 of the Indian penal code, informed the police.