Mumbai: 23-year-old man held for kidnapping teenage girl befriended on social media

A 23-year-old man has been detained by Government Railway Police for allegedly kidnapping a teenage girl whom he befriended on a social media platform. The incident took place at Kalyan station in Maharashtra’s Thane district on August 18. The 17-year-old girl was later rescued and the man arrested on Sunday on charges of kidnapping her, the GRP said in a release.

According to the report, the girl, a Dharavi resident of nearby Mumbai, was departing from Solapur in a reserved coach of the Gadag Express. The girl was spotted exiting the train and walking by herself across a platform at Kalyan station, according to later police inspection of CCTV footage, the release added. The police carried out checks with the help of her mobile number and informants and got a tip-off that a man from a village in Karjat in neighbouring Raigad district had kidnapped the girl, it said.

A police team later reached the house of the accused in Karjat where the girl was spotted, the GRP said. The girl was rescued and handed over to her parents. The accused, Kunal Ravindra Ratambe, was placed under arrest on charges of kidnapping, the police said. A preliminary probe revealed the girl and the accused became friends on Instagram and fell in love, they said. Further probe is on into the case, the police added.