Shrikrishna Patil : Kalyan Teacher Pays Rs 29 Lakh for Kidnapped Child | Thane News

THANE: A heart-wrenching incident of a 6-month-old infant being abducted from Madhya Pradesh and bought by a schoolteacher in Kalyan has come to a happy conclusion as the child was rescued and reunited with his parents in Thane on Friday. The authorities have apprehended the schoolteacher and five other individuals in connection with the abduction. Notably, two of the arrested suspects are women. Additionally, four more individuals have been detained by the Madhya Pradesh police in connection with the case.

The abduction took place in Rewa district, Madhya Pradesh, in the early hours of Tuesday. The infant was sleeping on a footpath alongside his parents in the Civil Lines locality when two perpetrators arrived on a motorcycle and snatched the child. Upon hearing the baby’s cries, the parents tried to intervene but the culprits managed to flee on the two-wheeler.

The main suspect, identified as Shrikrishna Patil, 53, a schoolteacher from Kalyan, reportedly harboured the intention of bringing a child home, as per officials from the Khadakpada police station. The other individuals arrested in connection with the case are Amul Yerunkar, 34, his wife RV Yerunkar, 32, Nitin Soni, 26, Swati Soni, 24, and Pradeep Kolambe, 35.

The Rewa district police managed to apprehend four suspects after reviewing footage from approximately 250 CCTV cameras. Following interrogation, it was revealed that the abducted child had been handed over to Nitin Soni, 26, and his wife Swati Soni alias Mehak Khan, 24, residing in Kalyan.

DCP Sachin Gunjal of the Thane police department stated, “Upon receiving information from the Rewa police, we immediately initiated a search for the suspects. Our first breakthrough came with the arrest of Nitin Soni and Swati.” The investigation led to the identification of Pradeep Kolambe, the autorickshaw driver who orchestrated the abduction.

Further probing unveiled the involvement of Amul Yerunkar, an attendant at a prominent Mumbai hospital, and his wife RV Yerunkar, who works for a shares trading company, in orchestrating the abduction. The Yerunkar couple had enlisted the services of Pradeep Kolambe to abduct the child, in exchange for which the Soni couple had paid them Rs 4 lakh.

Assistant commissioner of police Kalyanji Ghete disclosed that during interrogation, the Yerunkar couple confessed to selling the child to teacher Shrikrishna Patil. A police team intercepted Patil in Panvel while he was en route to his village, recovering the child from his possession. Investigations revealed that Patil, who had no biological children, had enlisted the help of his student Amul, who received Rs 29 lakh for his involvement.