The Pimpri Chinchwad police in Maharashtra have rescued a one-and-a-half-year-old boy within 23 hours after he was kidnapped from a traffic signal.
Police said on Thursday that the parents of the boy, Rohit Pawar — Ravi Pawar and Radha Pawar — had shifted from Solapur to Pune’s Shivajinagar area along with his two siblings about three years ago. They made a living selling pens, tissue papers and other such items near the traffic signal at the Dr B R Ambedkar junction in Pimpri.
Around 2.15 pm on Tuesday, Ravi left the spot to buy some food for the family while his wife was at the traffic signal. When he returned after 10 minutes, Ravi noticed that his son Rohit was missing. On failing to locate their child, Ravi and Radha rushed to the Pimpri police station for help.
Senior police inspector Shankar Awtade launched an inquiry and sleuths of the crime branch were also pressed into action.
As they checked videos captured by about a hundred CCTV cameras, police found out that a woman with her face covered with a scarf had kidnapped Rohit. They traced her to Shirgaon and received information that a boy had been abandoned near the Saibaba temple in the same area.
A police team soon reached the spot, rescued Rohit and handed him over to his parents. They could not nab the kidnapper, though.
Deputy commissioner of police Vivek Patil said that attempts were underway to arrest the woman. “We have conducted a medical test on the boy. He is stable and healthy. The purpose behind the kidnapping is yet to be ascertained,” he said.
