Hyderabad: Kidnapped child rescued from Maharashtra

Shyam Bheem Rao Solanki (22), a stone cutter from Malegaon of Maharashtra was arrested on charges of kidnapping the child and plotting to sell him.

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad City police joined hands with the Maharashtra police and rescued Rudramani, a three-year-old boy who was allegedly kidnapped while playing on the pavement near Gandhi Bhavan here last week.

Shyam Bheem Rao Solanki (22), a stone cutter from Malegaon of Maharashtra was arrested on charges of kidnapping the child and plotting to sell him.

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According to the police, M.Shiva Kumar and Ambika, both construction workers from Bidar of Karnataka, reached Hyderabad in early February along with their children Rudramani and two daughters, aged 12 and 9 years. While Shiva started working at a hotel, Ambika looked after the children, with whom they were living on the pavement near Public Gardens in Nampally.

On February 7, Solanki and one Bhogiram approached the family with Solanki introducing himself as Raju and assured the couple to arrange for work in Mumbai. Two days later, after Shiva Kumar left for work and Ambika went to fetch water, the children were playing near the escalator of Gandhi Bhavan Metro Station. It was then that Solanki kidnapped the child and walked to Afzalgunj and took shelter at Musi huts near Afzalgunj till next morning, according to City Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar.

Based on a complaint from Shiva Kumar, the Abid Road police booked a kidnap case and deployed special teams, by which time Solanki had boarded a train from Secunderabad Railway Station along with Rudramani and went to Sevagram Railway Station in Maharashtra.

“From there, he went to Wardha railway station by auto and boarded Vidharbha Express and alighted at Akola Railway Station. He took a bus and then auto to his native village Amanwadi,” Anjani Kumar said.

The police, who had identified him through CCTV footage, contacted Washim district SP Vasanth Paradeshi who instructed his sub-ordinates in Malegaon to extend necessary support.

“The local police alerted village leaders, police parties and circulated videos and photos of the suspect and child. The local police then received information from one Rupesh Kandare, a soldier posted in Rajasthan, who was alerted about the suspect by his sister,” the Commissioner said, adding that teams from the city then went to Amanwadi along with the local police and rescued Rudramani apart from arresting Solanki.