Kolkata, Sep 22 A college professor and her daughter were among three people arrested on Monday on charges of kidnapping a girl child from the Dum Dum metro station a few days back, police said, adding the girl child was also rescued from their residence.
According to officers of Sinthi Police Station, Arunima Chanda, a physics professor at Deenabandhu Andrews College in Kolkata, her daughter Anushka Chanda Chowdhury, and Chanda's brother Anupava Chanda were arrested from the Kasba area for kidnapping the girl child.
The police said the incident took place on September 19. The girl child lived with her three siblings and parents on the footpath area adjacent to Dum Dum Metro Station. At the end of the day, three of the children returned home, but the minor did not return. The parents searched for their girl but could not find her anywhere and lodged a missing person complaint at Sinthi Police Station. An investigation was started to find the girl child.
CCTV footage in the area showed that the minor was kidnapped by Chanda's daughter, Anushka, under the pretext of giving her coconut water. Chanda's mother was present at the spot at that time and was not seen resisting, in any way, her daughter's attempt to kidnap the girl child. After that, the investigators monitored the movements of the three accused by examining more CCTV footage and found that the accused had put the minor on the metro and taken her to their house in Garia.
"They kept her there since kidnapping her. This morning, the police rescued the kidnapped child in a raid at their house. The accused were arrested and will be produced in court later. We will apply for their police custody," said a senior officer of Kolkata Police.
Police sources said that there were inconsistencies in the statement given by the assistant professor following her arrest.
During the interrogation, she claimed that her daughter, Anushka, did not have any children and therefore liked the minor and took her home to raise her as her own daughter. She also claimed that they had taken the girl child home to keep her with them that day.
Following such contrasting statements, the police are also looking into whether a child trafficking ring has been operating in Kolkata or whether they kidnap minors for the purpose of child labour.
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