18 days on, stolen one-year-old child reunited with family in Mohali

Tribune News Service

Mohali, September 11

Eighteen days after two bike-borne youths took away a one-year-old boy from the hands of his grandmother on the Airport road near City Centre here, the police have reunited the child with the family.

Parents of the child work as labourers, while his grandmother Manju Devi runs a roadside tea stall.

The police have arrested two persons identified as Mangal Kumar (21) and Shyam, residents of Mau in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, and presently residing in shanties nearby Kumbhra village. The suspects were arrested after people saw a child under suspicious condition at their house near Baba Deep Singh School in Kumbhra on September 7.

During investigation, the police found that Mangal had allegedly stolen the child for his sister Sunila, who is a mother of five daughters. She also had some medical problems, the police said.

The police have also recovered the motorcycle used in the crime. Shyam works as an AC mechanic and was arrested on September 8.

The duo came on a motorcycle around 7:30 pm on August 24 and asked Manju Devi, who runs a roadside tea stall, for two cups of tea. The elderly woman initially refused as she had no milk, but the duo insisted, the police said, adding that while the woman was busy preparing tea, one of the suspects remained seated on the bike with the ignition on.

After finishing the tea, the other suspect asked the woman to hand him over the child in her lap as he wanted to play with him. While the woman got busy with her work, the duo slipped away with the child, they said.

It was the toddler’s brother and sister who alarmed the elderly woman about the incident. The CCTV footage collected from nearby houses showed the duo wearing helmets escaping the scene with a child tucked in between. The police later released the sketches of the suspects which helped in cracking the case, the police said.

Two in police net

The police have arrested two persons identified as Mangal Kumar (21) and Shyam, residents of Mau in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, and presently residing in shanties nearby Kumbhra village. The suspects were arrested after people saw a child under suspicious condition at their house near Baba Deep Singh School in Kumbhra on September 7.