Ghaziabad: Kidnapped nine-month-old boy sold twice; three arrested

Three persons were arrested on Wednesday in connection the kidnapping and human trafficking of a nine-month-old child from Ghaziabad, senior police officers said , adding that the child was sold twice to two different parties –once for ₹80,000 and the second time for ₹1.5 lakh — before police teams recovered the infant from Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand.

Police identified the three suspects as Hapur resident Manoj Kumar, 28, and Udham Singh Nagar residents Mahavir Kumar, 38, and Harivansh Singh, 42.

Explaining the sequence of events, police said suspect Manoj Kumar from Hapur was known to the child’s father, Manoj Kumar, 28, who is a resident of Dinanathpur Puthi, as they both worked in the same factory.

Complainant Manoj Kumar said suspect Manoj came to his house around noon on February 3 (Monday) and took the child from his wife on the pretext of taking him “for a walk”.

When suspect Manoj did not return, the family launched a search and finally approached the police on February 4 (Tuesday).

“After a lot of searching, I found out that suspect Manoj had taken my child to Kashipur, Uttarakhand,” the complainant said in the FIR registered at Wave City police station on February 4, under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 137(2) (kidnapping) and 142 (wrongful confinement and concealing).

The police formed several teams to trace the child and with the help of electronic surveillance, they zeroed in on three suspects.

Investigators said suspect Mahavir Kumar had told suspect Manoj about two-and-a-half months ago to get him a newborn, and he would pay Manoj ₹80,000 for the infant.

“Since suspect Manoj was a regular visitor to the house, the baby’s mother did not doubt his intentions. But he fled with the child on the pretext of taking it for a walk. After we arrested the three suspects. they told us that after kidnapping the child from Ghaziabad, suspect Manoj sold the child to Mahavir Kumar for ₹80,000,”said Lipi Nagayach, assistant commissioner of police, Wave City.

“Mahavir Kumar, acting as a middleman, later sold the child to Harivansh Singh for ₹1.5 lakh. Singh and his wife were childless. The police used electronic surveillance and worked tirelessly to trace the child and finally recovered it from Uttarakhand. Manoj kidnapped the child as he got lured by the money he was offered by suspect Mahavir Kumar,” the ACP said .

“Manoj had taken the child out for walks twice in the past. He again asked my permission to take him for a walk on Sunday, and I did not suspect him. When he did not return, I started a searching for my son and later went to my husband’s workplace to see if suspect Manoj was there. But he was nowhere to be found and finally, we approached the police for help,” the boy’s mother, Malti Devi, said.

Nagayach said more sections will be added to the case after further investigation. Suspect Manoj was arrested from Hapur while the two other suspects were arrested from Uttarakhand.

“It turned out to be a case of human trafficking as well, and relevant sections will be added to the FIR. Police teams acted swiftly and recovered the infant within 15 hours of receiving the complaint,” the ACP said.