BHOPAL : A four-year-old boy, who was abducted by his cousin from Malikhedi village under Chhola Mandir police station area on December 8, was rescued by the city police on Monday from a hotel in Basti district of Uttar Pradesh. However, the abductors managed to flee.
The abducted child Samar Yadav, 4, son of Santosh Gaur, was found alone at Arvind Palace Hotel in Basti at around 9am by the team sent in search for the victim.
SP (North) Arvind Saxena said that a ransom call demanding Rs 2 crore was made by the kidnappers but they were not ready to negotiate and disconnected the call. When the ransom call was traced it was found that the calls were made from Basti which is situated at Faizabad route. Later, a massive search was launched in the nearby areas and the boy was found outside Arvind Palace hotel.
During the investigation based on the mobile location, accused Mahesh Gaur, was traced in Faizabad at his wife’s aunt’s house late night on Sunday but the accused were not found at the house. At the house police found that the calls were made by Ninna, who was cousin of the main accused Mahesh’s wife and had left for Basti.
In the CCTV footage it was found that Mahesh and his wife boarded Pathankot Express and left Bhopal after the incident.
Notably the victim was kidnapped by his cousin Mahesh Gaur who lives in the same area where the family resides. The incident took place when the family was preparing for a ceremony. Mahesh had asked Santosh to lend him money but he refused. Another reason which enraged Mahesh was that he married against the will of his kin and Santosh had protested his marriage.
The SP further said that police teams raided several places but the accused was changing his location constantly which has made the tracking difficult. Search would be intensified as details of accused have been found which would help in nabbing the accused.
