Thane (PTI): A court in Maharashtra's Thane has sentenced three people to three years of rigorous imprisonment for kidnapping a five-month-old baby in the city.

Additional sessions judge Suryakant S Shinde found the accused, including two women, guilty of charges under section 137(1)(b) (kidnapping) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for the crime that took place in October last year.

A copy of the order dated December 15 was made available on Saturday.

As per the case details, the infant's mother, Vanita Rakesh Pawar, a scrap collector, reported that he was abducted while the family was sleeping under the Rabodi flyover bridge on October 12, 2024.

Following a swift investigation, the CCTV footage from nearby buildings was analysed, and it captured a woman in a red dress picking up the baby and later meeting two other accused to hand him over.

Based on a tip-off, a police team raided a premises in Rabodi, rescued the baby, and arrested Javed Amjat Ali Nhavi (35), Jayashree Yakub Naik (45), and Surekha Rajesh Khandagale (34).

The judge relied on the digital evidence and noted that Nhavi had been externed from Thane, Navi Mumbai and Mumbai and had violated the externment order.

He received an additional one-year sentence under the Maharashtra Police Act for entering Thane despite an active externment (expulsion) order.

The court acquitted them of charges under section 143 (trafficking), noting that while kidnapping was proven, the "exact purpose" (such as sale or forced labour) was not established by the prosecution.

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New Delhi/Amaravati (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the state is taking steps to transform itself into a knowledge and creator economy hub with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and quantum technology. 

He noted that Andhra Pradesh has abundant tech-driven youth and the government is formulating plans to train them in futuristic technologies with support from global technology firms. 

"Our goal is to transform Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge hub by focusing on AI, quantum computing, data centres, drone cities and space cities. The youth will remain our biggest asset over the next 25 years, and we seek global partnerships to scale up the creator economy," said Naidu during his interactions at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi.

Naidu, who participated in the summit in the national capital, also held meetings with several global technology leaders and industrialists to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, clean energy and innovation ecosystems. 

He met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Autodesk AI Head Mike Haley, Aramco India Director Abdul Rehman AiThukair, LEGO Education Vice President Tom Hall, Aadhaar Founder and CTO Srikanth Nadhamuni, Khosla Ventures Managing Partner Vinod Khosla and others at the AP Pavilion. 

The chief minister also held discussions with Saudi Aramco representatives on clean energy projects, including solar initiatives, and invited the company to expand operations in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the state is highly suitable for green energy production. 

He sought support from NVIDIA Vice President Callista Redmond for establishing AI Living Labs and proposed partnerships through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to promote youth innovation, including collaborations with IIT Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati under the Andhra Pradesh Future Innovation and Research for Science and Technology (AP FIRST) initiative. 

Naidu urged Autodesk leadership to support the development of Global Capability Centres in design engineering and requested the establishment of an Innovation Academy in Amaravati aligned with quantum technology, besides proposing AI and robotics learning labs in partnership with LEGO Education. 

He also discussed AI-driven smart governance solutions with Quantela Inc Chairman Sridhar Gadhi, while World Bank Group Digital AI Regional Director Mahesh Uttamchandani met Naidu on the sidelines of the summit. 

Following the meetings, Naidu visited various exhibition stalls at the summit, including those of NVIDIA, Tata, Intel and Microsoft, and reviewed AI applications across agriculture, healthcare and industry.