Five-year-old boy abducted from Thane district rescued in 5 hours; accused held

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In a swift operation, the police have rescued a five-year-old boy abducted from Maharashtra's Thane district and arrested the accused within five hours of the crime, an official said on Saturday, reported PTI.

The accused, Iqbal Guddu Ansari (34), a textile worker from Bhiwandi, was cornered and arrested from a hideout in the Powai area of neighbouring Mumbai after multiple police teams used technical surveillance and intelligence inputs to trace him on Thursday, reported PTI.

The child was playing outside his house in the Sawandhe area of Bhiwandi around 9.30 am when the accused lured him away, Inspector Harshawardhan Barave of the Bhiwandi taluka police station said.

After the boy's disappearance, the father lodged a police complaint, and a case of kidnapping was registered. The police immediately swung into action, he said.

Multiple teams were formed to trace the child, and with the help of technical surveillance, they tracked the suspect across multiple jurisdictions, tracing him to Khairanipada in Powai.

"Our teams, with the assistance of personnel from the Powai police station, raided a location in Khairanipada and successfully rescued the child within five hours," Barave said, reported PTI.

"The probe revealed that the accused had treated the child with severe cruelty. Consequently, we have added section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, apart from the section related to kidnapping under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita to the case," he said, reported PTI.

Further investigation is underway to ascertain the motive behind the kidnapping, he added.

Man, woman sustain stab injuries in attack by office colleague in Thane

In another case, a man and a woman sustained stab injuries in Khopat area of Thane late Friday evening, a police official said, reported PTI.

The two have been admitted to a nearby hospital for surgery, Rabodi police station senior inspector Hemant Patil said, reported PTI.

"The man who stabbed them has also been injured and is presently in police custody. The motive behind the attack is being ascertained. The accused and the victims work in the same office," Patil said, reported PTI.

The process of registering a case is underway, the official said.

(With inputs from PTI)