For 4 days,21 police teams couldn’t trace kids

The kidnappers in turn seemed to have kept a close watch on police,tracking each and every movement.

Police were quick to defend their action,saying the children’s safety was their priority and,hence,they were being “cautious” while investigating the case.

The calls from the kidnappers were traced to public call booths,all in a 1.5-km radius of the children’s residence.

On Wednesday,a day after the children were abducted,their father Manoj Kumar was asked to come to Sarai Kale Khan with the ransom.

Police teams were shadowing Manoj in plainclothes.

Police teams watched as two men walk past Manoj,briefly told him to go to Kalkaji with the money and walked ahead. Yet,they could not nab the culprits.

At no point during investigations were police close to finding either the children or the culprits,police sources said.

School authorities too are being questioned as to how they could let the children go with an unidentified man and not inform their parents.

A week ago,an unidentified man had gone to fetch the children,posing as their guardian.

The school did not inform parents about this.

On Tuesday too,the teachers had received a call from the main gate informing them that a man on a motorcycle had come to fetch the children.

They were allowed to go with him without the parents’ permission.

Vijay Pal Singh,the children’s grandfather,was inconsolable.

“They had been asking me to get them a remote-controlled car and chocolates. I cannot help wishing that things had been different… That the school had not let the children go,that the police acted in time. I would have been able to buy that toy car for my grandchildren,” he said.