Mumbai: 5-Year-Old Girl Rescued Within 12 Hours of Kidnapping; 4 Women Arrested in Bhandup

The Mumbai Police rescued a 5-year-old girl within 12 hours after allegedly kidnapping her in Bhandup with the intention of selling her. Four women involved in the minor's kidnapping were arrested from the Balkum area in adjoining Thane city, and the girl was later reunited with her family.

The incident took place on Sunday, March 24, when the girl went out to purchase balloons for the Holi celebration. When she did not return home till late evening, her parents got worried and started searching for their daughter. Some residents of the suburban Bhandup area saw the girl going with two women in an auto-rickshaw. One of them, later identified as Khushboo Gupta, stays in the same locality.

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The accused woman had planned to sell the girl for financial benefits. Post-abduction from Mumbai, the child was kept with two of the four women, both staying in Thane. The girl's parents approached the Bhandup police station and lodged a complaint, based on which a case of kidnapping was registered.

The police launched a search for the girl and apprehended Gupta. During interrogation, she admitted that along with another woman, Maina Dillod, she abducted the girl by promising her to buy a bar of chocolate and took her to Thane.

The girl was taken to Balkum in Thane city, where she was kept with the other two women. Accordingly, a police team on Monday morning conducted a search in Balkum and rescued the girl just 12 hours after she was kidnapped.