Police swiftly rescued a five-year-old girl allegedly kidnapped by two women from the Mumbai suburb of Bhandup, intending to sell her, just 12 hours after the crime occurred, according to an official statement on Monday.
Authorities arrested four women, two of whom were directly involved in the kidnapping, from the Balkum area in adjoining Thane city. The abducted girl was later reunited with her family, the official confirmed.
The accused woman reportedly schemed to sell the girl for financial gain. Following the abduction in Mumbai, the child was sheltered by two of the arrested women residing in Thane, the official disclosed.
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The incident unfolded on Sunday evening when the girl ventured out to buy balloons for Holi festivities. Concern mounted when she failed to return home late in the evening, prompting her parents to launch a frantic search, the official recounted.
Eyewitnesses in suburban Bhandup observed the girl boarding an auto-rickshaw with two women. One of them, identified as Khushboo Gupta, resides in the same locality, the official noted.
Upon filing a complaint at the Bhandup police station, the authorities registered a case of kidnapping based on the parent’s account.
During interrogation, Gupta confessed to abducting the girl along with another woman, Maina Dillod, by luring her with promises of chocolate and transporting her to Thane, the official stated.
The girl was taken to Balkum in Thane city, where she was harbored by the other two women. Subsequently, a police team conducted a search in Balkum on Monday morning and successfully rescued the girl within 12 hours of her abduction, the official revealed.
The two Thane-based women, Divya Singh and Payal Shah were arrested for their complicity in the kidnapping operation, according to the official.
Following a medical examination, the girl was reunited with her parents. The arrested women were presented before a court, which remanded them to police custody until Friday, the official concluded.
