RANIPET: A one-year-old girl, who was abducted while sleeping beside her parents on a pavement in Ranipet town, was rescued after 35 days. Ranipet police arrested five people, including a woman from Andhra Pradesh, involved in the crime.A release from Ranipet district police said a couple (eking out a living by collecting plastic bottles and begging) fell asleep on a pavement at Manickam Nagar in the town around 9pm on Sept 23. When they woke up around 1am the next day, they were shocked to note that the toddler was missing.Her mother, S Prema, 23, lodged a complaint with the Sipcot police station. The district police formed five special teams to trace and rescue the child. The teams scoured footage from more than 100 CCTV cameras around the crime scene and surrounding routes while utilising technical surveillance to trace the suspects.Investigations revealed that Malleeswari, a childless woman from Renigunta in Andhra Pradesh, had expressed her desire for a baby to her friend B Kausalya, 35, of Walajah, Ranipet district. Kausalya told her husband, D Boopathi, 42, and neighbour, R Santhosh, 35, both from Walajah, about her friend’s desire. Subsequently, Santhosh and his friend, M Kumaran, 30, from Walajah kidnapping the girl sleeping beside her parents on the pavement and handed her over to Malleeswari.Tracking the lead to Andhra Pradesh, a special team rushed to Renigunta, safely rescued the toddler from Malleeswari’s possession, and reunited her with her family. Police arrested Malleeswari, Kausalya, Boopathi, Santhosh and Kumaran.Police said further detailed investigation into the network and sequence of events is currently ongoing.
