In a significant breakthrough, Mumbai Crime Branch has successfully rescued a 1-year-old girl who was kidnapped while sleeping with her parents on a footpath outside Eros Theater, Churchgate. The accused woman has been arrested in Jaipur.
According to Rohini Potdar, Inspector of Crime Branch Unit 1, the case was registered at Marine Drive Police Station on 11th September. After the FIR was filed, the team began investigating. CCTV footage from the scene revealed that an unidentified woman abducted the child while she was asleep with her parents. The kidnapper was later spotted at CST station and subsequently seen boarding a train to Bandra Terminus. Further footage showed that the woman traveled to Jaipur, Rajasthan by a mail train.
Upon discovering her whereabouts, a team from Crime Branch Unit 1, led by Police Inspector Gawde, immediately left for Jaipur. The police team stayed in Jaipur for 15 days, but the accused remained elusive. A police officer stated that the woman kept changing her location, making it difficult for them to track her down.
During this time, the Crime Branch established several informants in Jaipur, who began working to trace the woman. After returning to Mumbai, one of the informants called the team with information that the suspect, along with the child, was sleeping inside an ATM in Jaipur. Acting on this tip-off, the Mumbai Crime Branch contacted senior officers at the local Vidhyakpur Police Station in Jaipur. The local police swiftly reached the ATM and took both the woman and the child into custody.
The Mumbai Crime Branch then shared photos of the woman and the child with the Vidhyakpur police. According to a Crime Branch official, the photos matched, and the woman was confirmed to be the kidnapper. Following this, the Crime Branch team arrived in Jaipur, arrested the woman, and secured a transit remand to bring her back to Mumbai.The accused has been identified as Preeti, alias Payal Laxman Singh (23). She is married but has been living separately from her husband. Her maternal home is in Uttar Pradesh, while her in-laws are based in Jaipur. The motive behind the kidnapping is still unclear. The investigation is ongoing.