In less than five hours, the Chennai City Police rescued an LKG student of Chettinad Vidyashram, who was kidnapped from the school on Thursday morning.
One of the abductors was arrested, said police, adding more arrests will be made soon. H. Surya, four-year-old student, is the son of Hariharan, an employee of Ennore Port Trust, and Padmavathy. The family resides at the Port Trust quarters in George Town.
At 8.15 a.m., Surya was picked up by the van driver and dropped at his school in Kotturpuram.
At 11.30 a.m., an unidentified man, who came in the guise of the van driver, picked up the boy after school.
According to police sources, the driver who usually picks up Surya asked about the boy and it was then the school authorities grew suspicious.
“Usually, drivers come to the class to pick up children. We send them after proper verification. Sometimes, the children get into other vans. But today Surya was missing,” said Amudha Lakshmi, principal, Chettinad Vidyashram.
The school authorities immediately informed Hariharan and scanned the CCTV footage. There are around 16 cameras in the school.
“At 11.47 a.m., a lanky and well-dressed person with long hair was seen approaching the classroom…we could clearly see his face. Surya seemed to recognise the person well, as he did not make any fuss,” said Ms. Lakshmi.
The police were informed and the City Police Commissioner S.George formed seven special teams to nab the accused.
“The teams were deployed in school, near the house and other locations like Tondiarpet, Royapuram and other locations where the kidnappers could have taken the child. One team was with the parents,” said K.Shankar, Joint Commissioner of Police, East.
At 4.30 p.m., the police rushed to Korukkupet and rescued the child.
The police refused to divulge details of how the boy was rescued. A senior police officer said, “The educational institution was negligent in allowing the child to go away with a stranger.”
Police refused to divulge details of how the boy was rescued
