A three-year-old boy was kidnapped by a Delhi University (DU) student and her minor brother in a greed to gain Rs. 5crore from outside his Ghitorni home near Vasant Kunj. Notably, it wasn’t alone such an incident that posed a problem for southwest district police.

A call regarding kidnapping of two Class 6 students of a government school was received nearly (10 hours before the kidnapping of the child) from outside the school which triggered panic among police personnel.

The father of one of the two boys who dropped his son at the school around 7am called the police at 8.30 am and assumed that his son was kidnapped when the school authorities informed him that his son did not report to the school. The authorities also told him that another boy also went missing which roused fear in everybody.

Devendra Arya, deputy commissioner of police (southwest), formed eight teams to trace down the missing students. A search operation was conducted for almost four hours by approximately 80 staff members of the RK Puram and South Campus police stations. People were questioned at the streets for clues and footage of around twenty four CCTV cameras on the school premises was scanned, succeeding in which the two boys were seen walking on the road outside the school in one of the recordings.

An officer reported, “We spoke to some of their classmates. Initially, nobody shared anything as they feared action from the school administration and their parents as well. When convinced that their names will not be disclosed, a few of them told us about their plan to visit India Gate.”

Lawns of India Gate were scoured by five police teams but the missing boys could not be found. Just when the teams were leaving to search other children’s favourite spots, they were informed of the boys’ return to the school at 11:30. It was then that the minors claimed that they had bunked school for “enjoyment” which gave way to a sigh of relief. No case regarding this matter was therefore registered. The officers assured that the boys were counselled by their counsellors and the school teachers.

The same police staff was geared into action after receiving a call at 6.30 pm about the kidnapping case of the three-year-old boy. The child was thereafter found and rescued from a locked flat near his home. The kidnappers- the DU student and her minor brother were caught hold of within 20 hours of the crime.