Toddler abducted from Elliot’s beach rescued, gang held

Investigation revealed that one of the accused, Manikandan of Nesapakkam who works at a restaurant, offered Rs 2.25 lakh to a child trafficking gang to kidnap a child for his childless elder sister, Pandi Meena.

Following this, the gang, including three women – S Mary (35) of Karaikudi, A Tirupathi Ammal (42), A Bala Vengammal (18) and S Ruben (19) of Saidapet – went to the beach and kidnapped the child, Rajeshwari, around 2 am on Friday.

Official said child’s mother, Sneha from a gypsy community in Kumbakonam, had quarrelled with her husband and reached Chennai a few days ago with her mother and a few other women.

They were selling balloons at the Elliot’s Beach and decided to sleep on the beach on Thursday. Sneha, who had laid Rajeshwari next to her, realised after sometime that the child was missing.

After searching for her child, she lodged a complaint at the Sastri Nagar police station. Sneha suspected her husband Basha, as he demanded the custody of their child when she left for Chennai. However, Basha reportedly told the police that he did not take away the child.

When they combed the CCTV footage, officials found three women carrying the child from the skating ground at the beach where she was sleeping with her mother, and escaping in an autorickshaw. The footage revealed that the gang changed three different autos before reaching Nesapakkam.

“Four special teams were formed, and the child was rescued and handed over to her parents on Saturday,” said Adyar Deputy Commissioner P Pakalavan, adding that Rs 1.15 lakh was seized from the gang. A probe is on to find whether the gang has indulged in any other child abductions.