4-year-old girl kidnapped from Mumbai traced to Varanasi orphanage, reunited with family

Mumbai, Nov 14 (PTI) A four-year-old girl, kidnapped from near Mumbai CSMT railway station in May, was traced to a Varanasi orphanage, from where she was taken into custody by police and reunited with her family, an official said on Friday.

Investigations revealed the girl was abandoned by the roadside by the kidnapper and a woman, on spotting the child alone, took her to the orphanage in the Uttar Pradesh city, he said.

A case was registered at the Mata Ramabai Ambedkar (MRA) Marg police station on May 23 after the girl was kidnapped by a man aged around 25 while her parents, originally hailing from Solapur district in western Maharashtra, were asleep near Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) station, the official said.

During probe, the police examined CCTV footage from the station premises and spotted a man walking away with the child, he said.

It was also revealed the kidnapper boarded a local train to Dadar and alighted at Kurla before proceeding to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), from where long-distance trains depart.

Suspecting the girl was taken to Uttar Pradesh, a Mumbai police team later travelled several times to Varanasi, but could not trace the child initially, he said.

Investigators coordinated with local police and also took help of journalists in Uttar Pradesh, who shared information about a girl, who was later found at the orphanage in Varanasi. The child had been brought there by a woman who claimed to have found her by the roadside, the official added.

The Mumbai police team reached the orphanage and confirmed the girl's identity. The orphanage staff had named her "Kashi," unaware she was kidnapped from Mumbai. Her parents were contacted and identified her over a video call, he stated.

The girl was taken into custody on Thursday and produced before Varanasi's Child Welfare Committee (CWC), which directed officials to send her back to Maharashtra, he said.

A search for the kidnapper was still on, the official added. PTI DC RSY