Mumbai cops arrest man for kidnapping child, unite her with parents

Policemen on patrol near Cafe Ideal at 4 am had spotted Mehboob Shaikh begging with a girl in his arms.

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Initially, it began with routine inquiries about why Shaikh was begging there, and then when he could not answer who the girl was, the police became suspicious.

Constable Prashant Thitame of the detection branch of D B Marg police station on Grant Road said Shaikh first said she was his child but fumbled and said he had found her begging at Mahim Dargah and taken her along.

An alarmed Thitame took Shaikh and the sleeping girl to the police station, while his colleagues went to the Dharavi address that Shaikh had said was his home.

“Neighbours told us that Shaikh is a beggar and had moved from there a few months ago. But he was not married and has no children,” said Inspector Rajendra Patil of D B Marg police station.

When confronted with this information, Shaikh allegedly confessed to have picked up the girl from a service road on Marine Drive and intended to her make beg for money. Shaikh has been remanded to police custody till May 5.

Meanwhile, the police have sent a message to the central control room that a missing girl had been found and requested her family be directed to D B Marg police station.

The girl was bathed, given a fresh set of clothes and readied to be sent to the Dongri Children’s Home.

She was really quiet all the time. She wouldn’t speak and just chewed on a pack of biscuits, the police said.

When they woke up on Sunday morning, the girls’ family could find her anywhere. Her mother, uncle and two siblings went to Marine Drive police station and were informed that the girl was safe.

“The girl lives with her family in Kalyan. On Saturday night, they had come to Churchgate where the father works at a restaurant. The other family members went to sleep on the pavement. They were fast asleep and did not notice that the girl was gone. She was sleeping when Shaikh took her,” Patil said.

Patil added that on Sunday morning, as soon as the girl spotted her mother in the police station, she smiled brightly. “She gave her mother, father brother, sister and uncle two biscuits each from the packet.”

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