40-day-old infant kidnapped by gang, rescued within hours in Mysuru; five arrested

MYSURU: A 40-day-old male child of a nomadic couple was kidnapped by a gang in the early hours on April 17, but the infant was rescued within a few hours. The police have arrested five people and are on the lookout for three others.

The arrested are Hootagalli resident Manjunath, Kumar of Pandavapura taluk, Indra Kumar of Nagawala, his wife Supriya and sister Vijayalakshmi. The police are on the lookout for Syed, his wife Sallu and Kiran.

Jeet Mondal and his wife Ramadalli Devi, hailing from Bihar, had come to Thanisandra in Bengaluru where they were selling honey. About 10 days ago, they pitched tent by the side of the Ring Road near Hinkal and would visit villages to retrieve honeycombs.

A few days ago, Manjunath approached the couple promising to look after the child well if they gave it up, but they refused. Early on April 17 morning, Syed, Sallu and the arrested kidnapped the child from the couple’s tent when they were sleeping. When they came out, they saw a woman taking away the child and lodged a complaint with the Vijayanagar police.

The police formed a special team which traced five of the accused to Modur village in Hunsur taluk within a few hours. The police are now probing the links of the arrested with child trafficking networks.