200 Eyewitnesses, CCTV Footage Lead to Arrest of Two Drivers Who Abducted Baby in Desperate Plot
Hyderabad: In a development that unfolded almost like a crime thriller, Sanathnagar police rescued an eight-month-old baby and arrested two men for kidnapping him within 24 hours. For this, they took the help of nearly 200 eyewitnesses and went through the CCTV footage of the area. The accused were caught while on the run, and the baby was safely handed over to his parents, Balanagar DCP K. Suresh said at a press conference on Tuesday.
The accused were identified as Satyanarayana Ram and Sunny Kumar Pandey, both natives of Bihar working as drivers in the city. The baby’s parents, Radhe and Kaliveli Geetha, are labourers from Uttar Pradesh residing in Sanathnagar.
Narrating the ordeal to Deccan Chronicle, Shivani, the sister of the victim’s mother, said, “My sister called me at 4 am, crying uncontrollably. She could barely speak but managed to say that their baby boy had gone missing while they were asleep.”
The couple, who has two children—an eight-year-old son and an eight-month-old infant—were sleeping on the footpath of Shivalayam Road in Fatehnagar, Sanathnagar, when the accused kidnapped the baby on the intervening night of February 22 and 23. After searching, the couple lodged a complaint with the Sanathnagar police, who registered a case under Section 137(2) of the BNS (imprisonment for kidnapping).
Investigating officer Abdul Hayyum, along with CCS and SOT teams, reviewed CCTV footage from the area. “The suspects had covered their faces with masks, so we focused on their body language. Interestingly, they returned to the scene nearly two hours after the kidnapping. By speaking to around 200 people, we confirmed that both accused lived in the same area,” he said.
“When we initially approached them for routine questioning, they acted suspiciously and avoided interaction. They later switched off their phones and fled the city, further confirming our suspicions. When we tracked them, we discovered they were in Nizamabad, so we alerted local police, who stopped them from crossing the toll gate,” Hayyum informed.
DCP Suresh explained the motive behind the crime. “During interrogation, we found that the prime accused, Satyanarayana Ram, had been married for nearly 20 years but had no children. In desperation, he planned to abduct babies from impoverished families, wrongly assuming it would not lead to legal trouble. To execute his plan, he enlisted the help of Sunny Kumar Pandey, who would steal the child late at night," he said.
