Bengaluru shocker: CCTV trail leads cops to kidnapped child; accused held

BENGALURU: Footage from 2 CCTV cameras, 1 near a temple and another near a bus stand, helped cops crack a mysterious child kidnapping case reported from Sira in Tumakuru district on February 2 night.

The accused are Shanta Mary, 40, a resident of Koramangala, and her relative, A Narasaiah, 35, from Midigeshi in Madhugiri. Based on Narasaiah’s statement, cops raided Shanta Mary’s house on Monday, rescued the baby, and arrested her. The child was produced before the Child Welfare Committee and was handed over to the parents on Wednesday.


According to police, the trouble began when the child, who was sitting with his grandfather and watching Magodu festive celebrations, went missing. The child’s grandfather is a bangle seller, and the child’s parents live in Laggere, Bengaluru. The bangle seller wanted to show the festival to his grandchildren, police said.

“The child went missing at night. Initially, our teams searched in the temple premises, where the celebrations were happening. By midnight, we strongly suspected that the child could have been kidnapped,” a senior police officer said.

A special team of Sira police, led by Deputy Superintendent of Police BK Shekhar and Additional Superintendent of Police ML Purushottam, sprang into action.

“One team interacted with locals, including auto drivers, shop owners, and others, asking whether they saw any persons suspiciously carrying a child, but there was no success. Another team started collecting technical details like CCTV footage and details of mobile phones gathered near the temple. That day, around 500000 people gathered for the celebrations. It was impossible to suspect any mobile numbers,” an investigating officer said.

By then, 2 CCTV footages, taken from the temple and the bus stand, showed a man and a woman walking hurriedly. On the man’s shoulder, a child was asleep, and it was covered with a towel.

“Again, we started collecting technical details of the persons who were present at the bus stand at that time. After 2 days, we zeroed in on around 50 mobile numbers. We collected the photos of the mobile number users from their service providers. On Monday morning, we got a clear picture of the man. When shown, the child’s grandfather identified him as the same person who befriended his grandchild,” police said.

The man, Narasaiah, was traced to his Midigeshi residence.

“When grilled, Narasaiah confessed to the crime and said the child was at Mary’s house,” an investigating officer said.

Accordingly, cops raided Mary’s house and rescued the child. “Mary claims that she has 2 daughters and wanted to have a boy child. She lived alone as her husband distanced himself. When she shared her intention with Narasaiah, the latter gave the idea of stealing the child at fairs. Also, they targeted the child from an economically weaker section, thinking that its parents would not go to police or police would not take their complaint seriously,” police said.Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Valentine's day wishes, messages and quotes !