Even though villagers at Oyoor in Kollam district are rejoicing the safe return of the kidnapped six-year-old Abigail Sara Reji, the Kerala Police continue to struggle to reach a breakthrough in the case. A day after she was abducted from near her house, the kidnappers — which included a woman — left the child at the Asramam ground on the morning of Tuesday, November 28. The public ground is located at a distance of about 25 kilometres from where she was kidnapped on Monday evening.
As the gang never used a mobile phone, tracking them has become tough for police. The artificial intelligence (AI) cameras installed in and around the district have also failed to track down either the car or the gang, even though they seemed to have moved freely around the city. Around 1.45 pm on Tuesday, the woman in the gang is believed to have travelled in an autorickshaw with the girl to reach the ground, where she made the child sit and left.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Police have released a sketch of two of the kidnappers including the woman as part of their probe. Incidentally, a man arrived at the Kundara police station pointing out that the picture had his likeness, and was let go after an examination. "After seeing a sketch that looked like me, I reported it to the police. They allowed me to leave after taking my mobile phone for further examination. I have informed them that I had nothing to do with the girl or the incident," he said.
The girl continues to be under medical observation at a state-run hospital in Kollam, as the doctors are waiting for results to find out if she was drugged after being kidnapped. She told the police that she was taken to a big house and was given food and then a laptop to play games, following which she slept.
Though the police showed her pictures of 30 women, she is yet to zero in on any of them as part of the gang.
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