Three people, including a woman, have been arrested by the Mumbai police for allegedly kidnapping a three-year-old boy from Wadala in a bid to sell him for money. The police said the three accused took the child to Kalyan, but the woman accused took him back after the others refused to pay the money on the spot and also because the boy's mother had called her and expressed the suspicion that she was behind the kidnapping. According to officers, the arrested have been identified as Sanika Waghmare, 18, Pawan Pokharkar, 20, and Sarthak Rajendra Bomle, 18. Waghmare lives in the Koliwada area in Sewri, while Pokharkar and Bomle reside in Ghatkopar. Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Latkar (Port zone) said that at around 12.30 pm on Monday, a 27-year-old woman informed the Wadala police that her son, who was playing in the veranda, had suddenly disappeared and could not be found despite searching. She lodged a case of kidnapping. "A team went to the spot and started checking the CCTV footage. We also started inquiring with other locals present near the spot," said DCP Latkar. The obtained CCTV footage which showed the boy walking with Waghmare and witnesses confirmed the development. The complainant then called the woman and enquired about her child. "Waghmare claimed that her boy was not with her and said she was instead attending lectures in college," said an officer. Even as the police continued their probe, at around 4.30 pm the station received a call that a three-year-old boy was found on the railway bridge in Wadala. Waghmare had handed over the boy to a local resident and claimed that she had found him loitering there. The person was further asked to take the boy to the police station, officers said. "We then spoke to the child and he told us that he was with Waghmare throughout," the DCP added. The woman was called to the police station, who immediately confessed to the crime and said that her accomplices Pokharkar and Bomle had offered her Rs 2 lakh for the task. "Pokharkar, who Waghmare knew through a common friend, was offered Rs 2 lakh to get a male child aged below ten," said an officer. On Monday morning, Waghmare saw the child playing and took him to Ghatkopar in a taxi. There, she met Pokharkar and Bomle and they went to Kalyan. "We have learnt that a taxi was trailing them and they were to hand over the child to them," said an officer. However, as Waghmare did not get the money on the spot and because she had also received a call from the boy's mother, she developed cold feet and left with the boy. "They went to Kalyan station, from where she got him to Wadala railway station and handed him over to a local resident who took the boy to the police station," said an officer. The trio have been booked under relevant sections of kidnapping and human trafficking. "We are trying to ascertain whether more people are involved in the case, whether they have committed such crimes in the past and to whom they were selling the boy," DCP Latkar said.
