Indore: Four individuals, including two women, were arrested early Friday morning, just five hours after they kidnapped two young boys from a park in the Lalaram Nagar area of Indore. The abductors lured the children with snacks and promises of pet animals.
Boys Found Unharmed
The victims, Naitik Sonkar (9) and Samrat (11), were discovered safe in a flat approximately 15 kilometers from the abduction site, according to police. The boys had gone missing from Tirupati Garden in Lalaram Nagar late Thursday evening, where they were playing cricket. Their families raised the alarm upon realizing they were absent.
Ransom Demand
The families received WhatsApp calls from one of the accused demanding a ransom of Rs 15 lakh, with threats to kill the children if the money was not paid. The families immediately reported the demand to the police.
Police Commissioner Santosh Kumar Singh stated, "We received information about the abduction at Palasia police station. Special teams were formed and intense surveillance was initiated to apprehend the accused." Ten special teams comprising 25 personnel were deployed across hotels, bus stands, railway stations, gardens, and temples.
Investigation and Arrest
ACP Tushar Singh noted that surveillance on the ransom call number proved decisive. "We put that number under surveillance and traced the location. We reached the place very carefully. The moment the accused saw police, they tried to flee, but we caught them," he said.
Using CCTV footage and phone surveillance, police traced the suspects to Shivansh Apartment in Datt Nagar. Officers noticed suspicious movement on the third floor and upon knocking, found the occupants attempting to escape. All four were caught on the spot, and both boys were recovered safely from inside the flat.
Details of the Accused
The four arrested are: Vineet Prajapati (22), Radhika Prajapati (19), Lalit Sen (21), and Tanisha Sen (20). ACP Singh confirmed that Vineet and Radhika are siblings, while Lalit and Tanisha are husband and wife. Radhika and Tanisha work for an e-commerce company, Lalit is a driver, and Vineet was involved in investment-related work in the stock market but has been unemployed for the last six months. Multiple mobile phones used in the crime were seized.
Premeditated Crime
Police stated that the abduction was premeditated. Tanisha Sen had been loitering near the garden for three to four days prior, gradually befriending the children by luring them with stories of puppies, pigeons, white mice, rabbits, and cats, and showing them animal videos on her phone. A male accomplice promised the boys they would receive the animals as gifts if they accompanied them. The children unsuspectingly walked into the trap.
Tanisha hailed a cab and transported the boys to a flat in the Rajendra Nagar area, where she began recording videos of them. When the boys said they were hungry that night, she prepared semiya in milk to feed them. ACP Singh confirmed that the children were not harmed. "The accused did not cause any injury to the boys," he said.
Aftermath
The boys were taken to MY Hospital for medical examination immediately after their rescue and subsequently handed over to their parents. During initial questioning, the accused admitted to having planned both the kidnapping and the ransom demand.
