Kidnapped 6-yr-old Kerala girl rescued from public ground in Kollam

A six-year-old girl abducted a day earlier in Kerala while on the way to a tuition class was on Tuesday (November 28) found abandoned but safe in a public ground in Kollam, officials said.

Visuals on TV channels showed police officials carrying the child in their arms to their vehicles to take her for a medical examination.

The girl was found at the Asramam ground in Kollam city.

Earlier, the police had said they were exploring all angles to locate the missing child. They released a sketch of a suspected kidnapper and stepped up the hung for the criminals.

The kidnappers, suspected to be four including a woman, came in a white car and seized the girl when she was on her way to tuition classes in Pooyappally along with her eight-year-old brother, the police said.

When the boy tried to stop the crime, the kidnappers pushed him aside and whisked the girl away in the car on Monday evening, a police officer said.

Police crackdown

The boy was injured in his knees while trying to save his sister.

According to visuals shown on television news channels, two ransom calls were allegedly made by the kidnappers. Initially, they demanded Rs 5 lakh and then later doubled the figure.

In the audio recording of the purported second ransom call, the kidnappers were heard saying that the girl was safe and unharmed and would be returned on Tuesday morning on a payment of Rs 10 lakh.

The kidnappers also warned the parents, who work as nurses in two private hospitals, not to inform the police.

Police then stepped up the search for the girl. All vehicles on all major and minor roads in the southern districts of Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Thiruvananthapuram were checked.

(With inputs from agencies)