Abducted boy traced to Bihar, one held

The Dongri police solved the kidnapping of a five-year-old boy on Friday, two days after he was taken to Bihar by the accused. Police officers reached Chapra before the accused could reach by train along with the victim, following which he was arrested and the child reunited with his family.

According to police, the victim Manthan Santosh Jadhav, a resident of Thaver Building in Mazgaon, was found missing on Wednesday evening when he was playing near his grandmother's stall located at a vegetable market in Dongri.

The victim's grandmother Krushna Jadhav told the police that the accused Rakesh Raghuvanshi (28), a worker at a scrap shop located behind her stall in Dongri, took Manthan to buy a chocolate for him around 5.30 pm. After waiting for three hours at the same spot, when Rakesh did not return, Krushna informed her son Santosh Jadhav and filed a police complaint. The police questioned the owner of the scrap shop, who informed them that Raghuvanshi was not employed at the shop but bought scrap from him every evening. He also gave the police Raghuvanshi's mobile phone number.

The police traced Raghuvanshi's mobile phone location and after questioning his brother, they learnt that Raghuvanshi had left for Bihar. Soon, a team of three officers was sent to Bihar by air. The police officers reached the local railway station when Raghuvanshi stepped off the train along with Manthan, arrested Raghuvanshi and rescued the child on Friday evening.

The motive behind the kidnapping is still not clear but police officers said the accused had shown his desire to adopt Manthan several times in the past.

Manthan's mother Rupali is a sweeper at a BMC school and his father Santosh works as a labourer.

"The accused made no ransom call in the two days he had the boy," said Ravindra Shisve, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 1). The accused will be brought to Mumbai by train with Manthan on Sunday morning.

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