Date:26/02/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/02/26/stories/2004022614340300.htm

New Delhi

Abducted boy rescued

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 25. A two-and-a-half-year-old boy, who was kidnapped from Old Delhi railway station on February 16, has been rescued by the Delhi railway police. Three persons, including the stepmother of the boy, have been arrested in this connection.

According to the police, Roshanara, wife of Akhtar Navi, a resident of Hauz Rani in Central Delhi, had complained to the Old Delhi railway station police that her son, Gulam Navi, had gone missing from the railway station on February 16.

It came to light that Akhtar, a sweetmeat shop owner, has three wives, Qamar Jehan, Roshanara and Ashmi Begum. At present he is living with his third wife at Hauz Rani. Qamar Jehan is now separated from Akhtar and lives with another man at Amroha in Uttar Pradesh. However, she held a grudge against Akhtar for having kept her only son with himself. Roshanara, who has three children, too is separated from her husband and lives in Amroha.

On February 16, Qamar asked Roshanara to accompany her to Delhi and sort the issue out with Akhtar. Roshanara agreed and they boarded a train from Moradabad to Delhi. In the train, they came across another woman, Bholi, wife of Prithvi Pandey, a resident of Loni in Ghaziabad. Bholi, mother of three daughters, told Qamar that she wanted a son like Roshanara, who was carrying Gulam.

The police said Qamar, bearing a grudge against Akhtar decided to teach him a lesson by getting his son kidnapped. She instigated Bholi to kidnap Gulam. As per plan, Qamar handed Gulam to Bholi when she got down on the platform as the train reached Old Delhi railway station. By the time Roshanara could get down, Bholi went missing.

Following investigations Gulam was rescued from Bholi's house. It also came to light that Qamar's brother, Mohammad Yamin, was actively involved in ensuring that the kidnapping became a success.

All three - Qamar Jehan, Bholi and Yamin - have been arrested and further investigations in the case are on.