Mangalore: The 10-day travails of a couple in search of their missing two-year-old son ended on Wednesday, thanks to the Trichy police special team which rescued the boy and handed him over to his parents on Wednesday evening November 12.
Police on Wednesday cracked the case of missing of 2-year-old H Arshath Khan, from the city after the arrest of 42–year-old Faritha Begum alias Jennifer, of Thennur, 35-year-old Mani, a construction worker of Mudshed area in Mangalore and 28-year-old Loganathan, of Palakkarai.
Khan, son of Hasarath Shahinsha, (28) and Anees Fathima, (24) of Thennur, went missing while playing outside his house on November 4. The couple lodged a complaint with the Thillai Nagar police, who registered a case of child missing.
Initial investigation led the police to suspect the role of Faritha Begum, who was Shahinsha’s neighbour. She was married to Sakthi alias Vinoth, who was working in New Delhi after separating from her first husband Kalil Ahamed. She was living with her parents and three children in the city. Police said Begum used to arrange child artists for film shooting in Bangalore.
The suspicion turned towards Begum after the investigation brought to light that she left the house around 9pm on the same day the child went missing. Immediately, police took Begum into custody.
On interrogation, Begum gave contradictory statements. Finally, she confessed that she kidnapped the boy by conspiring with her boyfriend Loganathan and brother-in-law Mani to sell him off.
Begum also told the police that she lured the boy with a chocolate and gave him to Loganathan who was waiting in a car near her house. The boy was taken to Karur before he was handed over to Mani in Mangalore.
The trio succeeded in their second attempt as their plan to kidnap the boy a week before Diwali went awry.
Based on her confession, a special team went to Mangalore with Begum and rescued Khan. The accused along with the boy were brought to the city on Wednesday morning from Mangalore. Loganathan who was on the run was also arrested.
