03 October,2024 07:52 PM IST | Mumbai | Faizan Khan
The CCTV grab of the incident
After scanning more than 400 CCTV cameras over the course of around a month, Unit 1 of the Mumbai Crime Branch has solved the kidnapping case of a one-year-old girl registered with the Marine Drive Police, an official said on Thursday.
According to the police, the incident took place on September 10, when the child, was sleeping on a street near Churchgate railway station with her parents.
"An unidentified woman took the child between 12 a.m. and 4 a.m. When the parents woke up the next morning and realised their daughter was missing, they searched the area but were unable to find her. They then approached the Marine Drive Police Station and registered a kidnapping case," the Mumbai Crime Branch officials said.
The police said, in the matter, both Marine Drive Police and Unit 1 of the Mumbai Crime Branch launched a manhunt for the unknown woman suspect in the case and after reviewing approximately 400 CCTV cameras, the Crime Branch discovered footage showing the woman boarding a local train from Churchgate to Bandra.
"After disembarking at Bandra station, she proceeded to Bandra Terminus, where she boarded an express train to Jaipur," the officials said.
Watch one of the CCTV video below
Given the number of CCTV cameras, it took more than three weeks to pinpoint the woman's exact movements. Once we confirmed that she had alighted at Jaipur railway station, we activated our local informers there. On Tuesday, we received information that the woman was found sleeping inside an ATM in Jaipur city with the child, said Datta Nalawade, DCP, Crime Branch.
After receiving confirmation from the child's parents, the local police in Jaipur were informed, and they took the woman into custody. A team from the Mumbai Crime Branch has rushed to Jaipur to bring the child back to the city. The girl will now be reunited with her parents, and the woman suspect who has been identified as Priti alias Payal Laxman Singh, 23, will be handed over to the Marine Drive Police Station for further investigations, the police said.
