Hyderabad: Chandanagar police bust child kidnap gang, 6 children rescued

Chandanagar police busted a child kidnapping racket that operated across Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Sangareddy for five years. Six children, including a five-year-old boy abducted from Lingampally, were rescued. Police arrested five suspects, recovered Rs 5 lakh and handed over the children to officials

Hyderabad: In a major breakthrough, the Chandanagar police on Monday busted a child kidnapping racket that had allegedly been operating across Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Sangareddy districts for the past five years. Six children, including a five-year-old boy abducted from Lingampally last week, were rescued.

The case came to light when a woman lodged a complaint stating that her son Akhil went missing on August 26 from near Pochamma Temple in Lingampally.

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Acting swiftly, the police formed special teams and nabbed the prime suspect, identified as Ch Raju, an Ayurveda practitioner from Patancheru, along with his associates Mohd Asif, Rizwana, Narsimha Reddy and Balaraju.

Police said the gang targeted children less than five years of age from railway stations and isolated areas and abducted them. They later sold the children to childless couples through mediators for large sums of money. Investigations also revealed that one parent had even sold his newborn babies through the gang.

Among the rescued children were Akhil (5), Arun (2), Ammulu (8 months), Lasya (5), Adivik (2) and Priya (1). Two children are yet to be reunited with their families.

Police also recovered cash of Rs 5 lakh from the suspects.

The rescued children have been handed over to the District Child Protection Officer.

The arrested persons were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.