Toddler snatched at night, tracked through 100 ‘eyes’ | Delhi News – The Times of India

New Delhi: For 35-year-old Moraba, Navratri in Delhi has always been a harsh test of survival. Each year, she comes to the capital from Kota, Rajasthan, with her young sons, to sell balloons and toys outside the Ramlila melas and festive pandals to make a meager living. But this Navratri brought unimaginable heartbreak. Two days ago, she was sleeping on the roadside near RML Hospital with her 1.5-year-old son—only to wake up a few hours later and find her child missing. The mother rushed to the Karol Bagh police station to file a complaint, and police registered a case under Section 137 (kidnapping) of the BNS. A special team was formed under the supervision of ACP Ashish Kumar and Additional DCP Rishi Kumar. According to police, the investigation involved tracking over 100 CCTVs across Delhi. “In the footage, the team noticed two men riding a scooty with a concealed number plate on Pusa Road, following the victim’s family from DBG Road. The scooty was later seen transferring the child into a white car. Further CCTV footage traced the car through Parliament Street, Connaught Place and nearby petrol pumps, eventually revealing its registration number,” said DCP (Central) Nidhin Valsan. “The suspects were carefully monitored. Their trail led us to Kali Bari Lane, where four accused were apprehended. Interrogation revealed that the child had been taken to Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh and sold to a 54-year-old man who wanted a son,” DCP Valsan added. The arrested accused include the buyer, Srivas alias Santosh (54) from Mahoba, Anant alias Sahil (22), Raju alias Rishi (24) and Sahil Kumar (21) from Delhi. A 17-year-old juvenile has been apprehended. The child was recovered safely within 48 hours. “We don’t usually have a permanent place to stay, so we sleep on the roadside,” the mother told TOI. “Around 2 am, my son was right beside me. But when I woke up around 4 am, he was gone. I panicked and ran around calling for him. I had lost all hope of ever finding my son again.” A scooty, the car used to transport the child, and Rs 5,500 in cash were seized. Police revealed that Srivas, who already had two daughters, had offered Rs 1 lakh for a male child. The boy was abducted from Pusa Road and sold for Rs 45,000. The juvenile accomplice had picked up the child and handed him over to the adult conspirators acting on Santosh’s behalf.