Officials from the Manpada Police Station, after a 74-hour joint operation with the Gujarat Police rescued a 12-year-old boy who was kidnapped recently. As per reports, a total of five people has been arrested for the same who demanded a ransom of INR 1.5 crore for the child. The team has confirmed that three out of the five people were women.
Identified as Rudra Jha, a resident of Dombivli, was out of his house heading for his tuition at Milapnagar when he was kidnapped. The incident was reported on November 9, 2022, when the boy who left his residence at 8 am did not return until 10 am. They instead received a threat call stating that the boy would be killed if the amount was not paid.
Upon receiving the same, the family sought help from the police and registered an FIR with Manpada police who formed a total of 20 teams, comprising of around 300 policemen, to immediately search the boy. Search was held in several areas of Mumbai, MMR, and Gujarat. After a stringent operation, the team found the boy who was reunited with his parents.
Moreover, five people - Faradshaha Firojshah Rafai (26), Nazia Rafai (25), Farheen Singh (20) Princekumar Singh (24), and Shaheen Shabam Mehtar (27) – were arrested from Gujarat. Most of these culprits were from one family.
CCTV footages were checked thoroughly, and a car was spotted which kidnapped the boy and moved from Dombivli to Jawahar Nashik via Badlapur. The police followed the chain and checked that the accused changed the name plate of the vehicle. Ransom was being demanded repeatedly and the investigation was intensified, post which the police used mobile location to trace them. The number was identified in Gujarat later.
Sharing more details, Hindustan Times quoted Senior Police Inspector, SP Bagade, who said, “It was a very sensitive matter, and our team was handing it carefully to ensure boy’s safety. The police spotted the car at Mokhada, Jawahar and tried following it. The accused abandoned the car in a jungle and fled with the boy. We found a knife, nameplates, notebooks that the boy carried to tuition and his footwear in the car. We also announced a reward of ₹50,000 if the villagers helped us with a clue.”
“Investigations revealed that the main accused Farhadshah Rafai was a Palghar resident, but his native was Surat. His background check revealed he has cases of double murder, house thefts and illegal liquor selling registered to his name. Our sources told us that the accused shifted his belongings from Palghar to Surat during this kidnapping period. We got his Surat address through the tempo he had used for shifting. A team of 50 cops reached his residence in Surat and nabbed him and his family,” he added.