Delhi: Couple with four daughters bought kidnapped male infant; five held, child rescued
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has arrested five people, including a woman who had been absconding for seven months, for allegedly kidnapping and trafficking a toddler from Delhi's Seelampur metro station, an official said on Saturday.
The 1.5-month-old child was kidnapped in June and has been recovered safely and reunited with his mother. Police said the couple who bought the infant -- 40-year-old Dheer Singh and his wife Baneeta -- did so because they have four daughters and wanted a male child. Both have been arrested.
According to police, the main accused, Devaki (22), who had been frequently changing her hideouts for months, was finally traced to a rented accommodation in the Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh. She had allegedly kidnapped the newborn from the metro station on June 4 and later sold him for Rs 1.5 lakh in Delhi's Arya Nagar.
A case under Section 137(2) (kidnapping) of the BNS was registered at the Shastri Park Metro police station, but initial attempts to locate the infant, and the accused yielded no breakthrough. The investigation was subsequently transferred to the Anti-Theft Squad of the Metro Unit.
Technical and manual intelligence indicated Devaki's movement in Mahoba. A police team raided her hideout and arrested her, securing three days' police custody, a senior police officer said.
During interrogation, Devaki identified the others involved in the kidnapping and sale. Police said she had abducted the infant at the behest of Manju Devi (44), an Anganwadi helper in Gandhi Nagar, while the transaction was mediated by Sheela (35), a domestic worker.
Following Devaki's disclosure, the police recovered the child from the possession of Baneeta. Her husband, Dheer Singh, a private contractor, was also arrested. Both confessed to purchasing the boy as they longed for a son, officers said.
All four co-accused -- Manju, Sheela, Dheer, and Baneeta -- were arrested under the relevant sections of the BNS and the Juvenile Justice Act and were subsequently remanded to judicial custody.
The rescued child was produced before the Child Welfare Committee, which ordered that he be restored to his mother after due formalities.
Police said none of the accused has a previous criminal record. Further investigation is underway.
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UP govt to build protective walls around Ambedkar statues: Adityanath
Lucknow (PTI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said the state government will build protective boundary walls around statues of Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar to safeguard them from vandalism.
Adityanath made the remarks while addressing the 'Mahaparinirvaan Diwas' (death anniversary) programme of Baba Saheb Ambedkar in Lucknow on Saturday.
"Today, our government is going to take another important decision, and that decision is that wherever statues of Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar are installed in Uttar Pradesh, some mischievous elements often come and vandalize these statues.
"They make malicious attempts to damage them. Now, our government will create a system to protect these statues by constructing a boundary wall around them," Adityanath said.
"If a statue does not have a roof over it, a canopy will be installed to ensure the safe and respectful protection of Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar's statue," Adityanath said.
He also said that the government will complete connecting every slum, every Dalit settlement, Scheduled Caste settlement, and every tribal settlement with proper connectivity, if any areas are still left unconnected.
Although the Rural Development Department and the Urban Development Department have worked to complete these, if any areas remain unconnected, "we will ensure that they are fully connected", he said.
