Ahmedabad : A four-year-old boy allegedly kidnapped from near Patdi bus station in Surendranagar district was rescued safely in Ahmedabad after a CCTV trail and an emergency police alert helped trace him. A 40-year-old woman, who allegedly abducted the child to force him into begging at traffic signals, has been arrested.
The incident came to light on Wednesday when the child, whose labourer parents live on the pavement near Patdi bus station approached Patdi police station and fild complaint regarding their missing child. During the investigation, Patdi police examined CCTV footage from the area and spotted a woman allegedly walking away while holding the child’s hand.
The footage, along with the boy’s details, was immediately circulated through an emergency broadcast message to the Ahmedabad city police control room and police stations. The alert proved crucial when Sola police received information about a suspicious woman accompanied by a child matching the description of the missing boy near the road leading towards Prasang Party Plot crossroads.
Sola police inspector KN Bhukan and his team immediately reached the location and detained the woman. Officers verified the child’s identity and confirmed that he was the four-year-old reported missing from Patdi. The accused has been identified as Reema alias Ramila alias Tini, a native of Bhiloda in Aravalli district. Police said she allegedly lives with her husband on a pavement beneath a flyover opposite Sola Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad and earns a livelihood by begging and collecting plastic waste.
During questioning, the woman allegedly confessed that she had taken the child from Patdi with the intention of making him beg at traffic signals, police said. The child is being handed back to Patdi police for reunion with his parents, while the accused woman is also being transferred to Patdi police for further investigation and legal action.