Hyderabad: The Secunderabad railway police on Monday reunited a two-and-a-half-year-old girl with her parents just hours after she was abducted from the station.
D. Swarnalatha was abducted by an unidentified person when she and her family were sleeping on the foot overbridge on Platform 10 at the Secunderabad station past midnight on Monday. Her father D. Suresh, along with his two children, D. Prabhas, five, and Swarnalatha, came to the station to board a train to Nellore, his native place, on Sunday evening. His wife had died two months ago. A police officer said Mr Suresh was inebriated at the time of the abduction.
Though there were five trains to Nellore between 5 pm and 11 pm, the father didn’t board any of them. The official said he did not have money to buy a ticket and may have been scared of getting caught.
The family went to sleep on the foot overbridge near the lift at Platform 10. When he woke up, Swarnalatha was missing. He searched the station premises and then approached the railway police. The police booked a kidnapping case under PIC Section 363 and formed two teams to trace the girl. The teams analysed footage from 10 CCTV cameras at the station. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Government Railway Police (Secunderabad) inspector K. Adi Reddy said the kidnapper was spotted at 1 am and is seen exiting the station from the cargo parcel exit at 1.03 am.
“The suspect was seen roaming the station premises holding the child on his shoulders,” he said.
The search then shifted to the 15 CCTV cameras of the Market police. The kidnapper was spotted going towards an Irani hotel opposite the station. CCTV cameras of the Gopalapuram police showed that he went towards Monda market.
The Market police was alerted, and they began a search for the girl. At about the same time, onlookers noticed a girl who was unattended and was crying at Bandimet and called the police through Dial 100.
A patrol team of the Market police reached the spot, took custody of the child and admitted her to the shelter. Mr Reddy said the police took Mr Suresh to the child shelter where the family was reunited.
The police is now looking for the man who launched a manhunt on the suspect.
