The 18-month-old boy, who was kidnapped allegedly by a domestic help from his Delhi home three days ago, has been rescued from neighbouring Faridabad with arrest of four persons, including two women, police said on Wednesday.
Ishaan, the son of a prominent businessman was kidnapped allegedly by maid Seema from Southeast Delhi's Maharani Bagh on Sunday evening after she took him for an evening walk.
The maid was employed by the family 10 days ago without police verification. The boy was rescued from Faridabad, near Badarpur border around midnight, a senior police official said.
"We have rescued the boy and arrested four persons, including two women. One of the two women arrested is the maid," the official said. Two of the accused belong to Orissa, while one each are from Bihar and West Bengal.
"The kidnapping was pre-planned. All the four accused knew each other and their motive was to become rich quickly," he said.
Earlier, police had said it appeared that the maid had kidnapped the boy due to fondness for the boy. Delhi Police had formed 15 teams, including one from Crime Branch, and send them various parts of the country in search of the boy.
Delhi Police had declared a reward of Rs 50,000 for anyone providing information about the child and released the sketch of the suspect.
The police had also released a second photograph of the victim on Monday. A case under Section 363 (kidnapping) of Indian Penal Code was registered. If convicted, one can be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine.
According to Delhi Police, 551 children have gone missing from the capital this year, with this month alone accounting for 176 such cases.
Ashok Chand, crime branch chief, constituted nine different teams to investigate the case. "Great detection work by the teams who did not snatch a proper night's rest and the media playing up the crime helped in cracking the crime," Chand told rediff.com on phone.
Police Commissioner of Delhi B K Gupta lauded the joint efforts of the crime branch and south district police parties for solving the case within 72 hours, and restoring the child to his parents who live in Maharani Bagh.
Addressing a press conference held in the Police Headquarters, Gupta gave details of the pain-staking work done by the team.
"I compliment the Delhi Police team led by Pradeep Kashyap, and the Crime Branch chief Ashok Chand. The kidnappers planned to keep the child for a month and had made arrangements to feed him and keep him in fit condition. They had purchased biscuits, baby oil etc and hoped to collect Rs 2 crore from the parents once the police pressure was off," Gupta said.
Ishaan's mother asked the media to take pictures of Gupta, Chand and Pradeep Kashyap instead of taking her pictures with Ishaan.
"They have done a remarkable job. At no point of time I felt that no effort was being made to rescue him. Teams would keep dropping by and telling us all about the latest developments. I hired Seema without verifying her past history, so I would ask others not to make the same mistake," she said.
Gupta told mediapersons, "The child was first taken to Sarai Kale Khan. By the time we raided the hideout, the kidnappers had shifted the child to another room in Tilpat Range, and from there to a place in Faridabad. They had dressed the baby as a girl to hide its identity, and even put on bangles on him."
"We found that Pratima, the previous maid, was a part of the conspiracy. The breakthrough came when Ashok Keeru, Pratima's boyfriend was picked and interrogated. He revealed that they had planned to the child for a month and ask for Rs 2 crore as ransom," Gupta said.
"We have rescued the boy and arrested four persons, including two women: Savita Kerketa alias Seema and Anu Ara Begum alias Shanti. One of the arrested is the maid," the official said. The other two arrested in this case are Ashok Keeru, and Krishna Dev Kumar.
"We have sent a team to Bihar to nab Pratima," he added.
With inputs from PTI
