A three-year-old boy, who had been kidnapped nearly ten days ago in Hyderabad, was rescued by the police on Thursday from Maharashtra’s Washim district. The three-year-old, whose family had been staying on a footpath in Abids, went missing on the evening of February 8. Hyderabad Commissioner of Police Anjani Kumar said that the case was very challenging, and required tracking of nearly 800 km, and cooperation of various agencies including railway police and bus station staff in various places, apart from the Maharashtra police.

According to a statement from the Hyderabad police, the child’s parents were migrant workers from Karnataka. The father, Shiva Kumar, had been working at a hotel in Nampally. Having returned to his hometown in Bidar district during the COVID-19 lockdown, he had recently returned to Hyderabad in the first week of February, along with his wife and their three children, in search of work. 

As the family stayed on footpaths while Shiva searched for work, they were befriended by two men who began to stay along with them, making plans to find work together. On February 8, Shiva left to find work, and his wife Ambika stepped away to fetch water, leaving their children under the supervision of the two men. When they returned, the three-year-old had gone missing, along with one of the two men, who has now been arrested by the police. The accused,  Shyam Bheem Rao Solanki, is a 22-year-old man from Washim who was also looking for work in Telangana. 

After the family lodged a complaint with the Abids Road police on February 9, Hyderabad police went through CCTV footage from several cameras from Gandhi Bhavan Metro Station, Afzalgunj, Secunderabad railway station, Sevagram railway station, Wardha railway station, Akola railway station and finally traced the boy to Malegaon town in Washim.

Hyderabad police informed officials of Washim district, who in turn informed all local village leaders and police parties in Malegaon, and circulated the videos and photos of the accused and the child. 

Finally, on Wednesday night, Malegaon police received information from a man whose sister identified the accused and the boy. Hyderabad police, along with Malegaon police, rescued the kidnapped child from Amanwadi village of Malegaon Taluka on Thursday. 

Watch Hyderabad Commissioner of Police Anjani Kumar speak about the case: