New Delhi: Kidnapped about three weeks ago by a man, who lost his son to chicken pox, a two-and-a-half- year-old boy was reunited with his family yesterday on the pious occasion of Chhath, the police said today.
Vinod and Panna Lal have been arrested for kidnapping the child on October 8 from a park near his house in southeast Delhi’s Amar Colony, they said
To identify the accused, the police examined footage from at least 15 CCTV cameras in the area.
“Lal and his wife, Devshila, had lost their son to chicken pox and due to some medical condition, she could not conceive again. The couple decided to kidnap a child and requested Vinod for his help,” Deputy Commissioner of Police(southeast) Romil Baaniya said.
The police said that Lal and Vinod had gone missing on the day of the crime and had fled to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.
To nab the duo the police had raided several locations in 26 villages in Uttar Pradesh. Yesterday, a team nabbed Vinod from the near a bus stand at Bans Gaon Tehsil, they said.
Later, the police arrested Lal and subsequently rescued the boy on the information provided by Vinod. They were planning to flee to Nepal, the police said, adding that Devshila was still at large.
On being reunited, the boy’s mother said, “I was fasting for the well-being of my son on Chhath and it is by God’s grace that have I got him back.”
The boy’s father, a taxi driver, said that he approached police after he could not find him.
The child’s mother said that the last few weeks had been agonising for them.
PTI