UP: Ten-month-old abducted from train rescued; 3 arrested

UP GRP rescued a ten-month-old abducted from a train after his mother was drugged. CCTV-led probe traced the accused, who sold the infant for Rs 3.5 lakh. Three arrests were made and the child reunited with his mother safely today

Etawah: A ten-month-old boy abducted from a moving train after his mother was drugged has been rescued following a joint operation by the Government Railway Police (GRP) across Uttar Pradesh, police said on Thursday.

The incident occurred on the Delhi-Howrah rail route between Etawah and Kanpur when a woman, Munni Ansari, was travelling in the general coach of the Kanan Express from Aligarh to Koderma in Jharkhand with her son.

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Police said a youth who boarded the train at Aligarh, befriended the woman and later fed her a sweet laced with intoxicants.

According to the complaint, the woman lost consciousness around 1 am on the intervening night of January 14 and 15. After the train crossed Kanpur, the accused allegedly got down at Fatehpur railway station with the infant and fled. When the woman regained consciousness near Mirzapur station, she found her child missing and reported the matter to the Mirzapur GRP.

Senior Superintendent of Police, GRP Agra zone, Anil Kumar Jha said since the crime took place between Etawah and Kanpur, the Mirzapur GRP registered a zero FIR and transferred the case to the Etawah GRP on January 16 for investigation.

Etawah GRP station in-charge Jitendra Singh said the case was treated as highly sensitive and senior officers were informed immediately. A joint investigation involving GRP units of Aligarh, Kanpur, Mirzapur and Fatehpur was launched.

Police examined CCTV footage from stations where the Kanan Express had stoppages. At Fatehpur station, cameras captured a youth matching the description provided by the woman — wearing a green sweater — getting off the train and later heading towards the roadways bus stand. He was then traced through CCTV footage at Aligarh railway station’s ticket counter, where he was seen purchasing a ticket using UPI payment.

Based on this lead, police arrested Sonu, a resident of Bulandshahr. During interrogation, he confessed to abducting the child and selling him for Rs 3.5 lakh, police said.

On Sonu’s disclosure, police arrested Ashok Kumar and his wife Poonam, residents of Dadri in Noida, and rescued the infant from their custody on Wednesday. The couple told police they had contacted Sonu to obtain a child as they desired a son, according to the officer.

The child was reunited with his mother after six days, police said, adding that further legal action is underway.