Delhi: How five-day kidnap drama ended where it started

NEW DELHI: On March 31, four-year-old Arman had come to Jama Masjid with his mother and relatives. As they headed towards Meena Bazaar, he got separated from his family in the heavy crowd. It took a few minutes for the family to realise that Arman was missing.
They started a frantic search in the market, but couldn’t find him. The police were alerted and a manhunt was launched in the area.Failing to locate him, an FIR of abduction was lodged and investigation started.

DCP (central) Mandeep Randhawa formed a 20-member team to find the child. Arman’s details and photograph were uploaded on the missing children’s website, ZIPNET.
The family said Arman was last spotted at gate number 2 of Jama Masjid metro station. The police team then scanned the footage of CCTV cameras at the entry and exit points of the station. “A hue and cry notice was circulated to all police stations in Delhi-NCR. A wide publicity was made through loudspeakers, posters and the child’s details were also posted on WhatsApp groups and Facebook,” Randhawa said.
The first breakthrough came from the footage of a camera installed on Urdu Bazaar Road. A woman wearing a burqa with her face covered was spotted with Arman exiting Meena Bazaar at 6.32pm.
The footage from cameras on the route was scanned and an electronic route was mapped. Police found that the woman went to Bazaar Matia Mahal on foot with the child and then boarded a rickshaw to go towards Chitli Qabar and Chandni Mahal. The team questioned around 200 rickshawpullers and finally identified the one who had ferried the woman.
The rickshawpuller told police that the woman asked him to drop her at Turkman Gate Chowk after which she boarded an auto to go towards Seelampur in northeast Delhi. He said he took her to Turkman Gate via Pahari Bhojla, Haj Manjil. This was corroborated through footage of CCTV cameras along the route.
A massive drive was then undertaken to identify the autorickshaw boarded by the woman at Turkman Gate. The CCTVs there were of no help as it had become dark by then. The police team set about the arduous task of quizzing over 300 auto drivers who ply on the Turkman Gate-Seelampur route. The groundwork paid off and the auto driver was identified. He told cops that he had dropped off the burqa-clad woman and the child at Buland Masjid in Seelampur.
On April 3, police undertook a door-to-door search in the locality and activated informers in the area. Shopkeepers were asked to alert them about any woman roaming in the locality with the child. A heavy police presence was also ensured in the area.
The next day in the evening, Arman was mysteriously found at the same spot near Jama Masjid from where he had gone missing. A passerby spotted the lone child and alerted the cops. The child was then taken in custody by the cops and reunited with his parents. Police are now trying to arrest the kidnapper.