New Delhi: A vegetable seller, who allegedly kidnapped a three-year-old child of a beggar couple from Okhla-Mathura Road in south-east Delhi, was arrested following the recovery of the toddler from Hathras in neighbouring UP, police said today.
Accused Hari Singh (43) was arrested by a police team from Brahmani village in Hathras, where he had taken the child to a relative’s place, Mandeep Singh Randhawa, DCP of south east district police, said.
The kidnapped child, Shiva, was recovered from the house. Hari claimed that he had developed a fondness for the “good looking” boy and wanted to give him good parental care, the officer said.
The boy was with his mother, who begged at Okhla-Mathura Road in New Friends Colony, when he went missing since November 4 without any trace.
A case of kidnapping was registered by New Friends Colony police station on the complaint of kidnapped boy’s father Sajjan, who works as a sweeper.
In a bid to trace the child, police launched a manhunt while struggling with challenge of having no photograph of the missing child as well as no clue about any possible suspect, Randhawa said.
Police found a photograph of the child through its ‘Pehchan’ project, which was widely circulated for clues about the missing boy.
During massive hunt for the suspect, police learnt that a local vegetable seller was also missing since the boy had disappeared, Randhawa said.
Through extensive legwork and questioning, police finally got to know about the movement of Hari Singh and caught him from Hathras, he added.