A 29-year-old labourer, who kidnapped a six-year-old girl from outside her residence at Waliv in Palghar district on March 4, was traced in Bandra and sentenced by a magistrate court on Wednesday to two years of rigorous imprisonment. Accused Kansa Singh, who pleaded guilty, is a resident of Malad. The police said he had gone to meet a friend in Waliv on March 4 when he saw the little girl playing outside her residence. Around 9 pm, he lured her with chocolate and kidnapped her. He brought her to Malad by train, but fearing that the police might be tracing him, he abandoned the girl and fled from Malad. A woman who spotted the girl took her to Malad police station and she was handed over to her parents who are daily wage labourers. In the meantime, the girl's parents lodged an FIR with Waliv police and three special teams were formed to arrest the kidnapper. The police, based on CCTV camera footage, ascertained that Singh was behind the kidnapping. They learnt that he is leaving for his native place in West Bengal and stationed teams at Dadar, Kurla and Bandra terminus. He was arrested at Bandra on March 6. “Within the next three days, Assistant Inspector Jaychand Thakur and Sub-Inspector C R Patil filed a chargesheet with witness statements and CCTV camera footage. As there was a lot of evidence, the accused pleaded guilty and was convicted by a magistrate court. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment. We wanted to send a strong message to the society, so we acted fast,” said Kailash Barve, Senior Inspector of Waliv police station.
