A one-year-old boy kidnapped over eight months ago from Thane district in Maharashtra and allegedly sold to a woman was rescued and two persons were arrested in this connection, police said. The boy was sleeping with his grandmother in the verandah of their home at Mharal village in Kalyan town on June 29, 2018 when he was kidnapped, senior police inspector Balaji Pandhare said.

The child's mother, a widow, later lodged a police complaint under Indian Penal Code Section 363 (kidnapping). Acting on a tip-off, the police kept a tab on the movements of local resident Somnath Pawar (36), who was suspected to have kidnapped and sold the child for Rs 25,000 to his relative Renuka Pawar (40), who has three daughters but desired to have a son, he said.