A distraught Malad resident, whose son had been kidnapped by her friend to settle a personal score, got the best Mothers’ Day gift on Sunday: her son safe and sound.
On Saturday afternoon, Dindoshi resident Reshma Patil’s (30) son Arnav went for a walk with her friend and colleague Shyam Mandal (25) when the child was at Reshma’s sister’s house. Her sister called her up to alert that the child had left with Shyam but did not return, the Malwani police said.
“Reshma and Shyam used to work together at a hospital in Goregaon and became good friends around five years ago. Shyam would frequently visit Reshma’s residence and take Arnav out for walks. Around a month ago, their friendship went sour due to Shyam’s quarrelsome nature, and Reshma blocked his number 15 days ago. Reshma, who now works in an imitation jewellery workshop, would drop Arnav at her sister’s place in the morning and take him home in the evening. Her sister was not aware of the animosity between Shyam and Reshma, and hence did not object when he took Arnav out on Saturday afternoon,” said an officer with the Malwani police station.
FIR lodged
After trying to locate Shyam for a couple of hours, Reshma approached the Malwani police and a complaint of kidnapping under the Indian Penal Code was registered against Shyam. Inquiries revealed that he had gone to Reshma’s house on Saturday morning and demanded an explanation as to why she had blocked his number.
When she told him that she wanted nothing to do with him any more, he had assaulted her and walked out of the house swearing to teach her a lesson. The sequence of events suggested that Shyam had gone straight to Reshma’s sister’s house from there and left with Arnav.
Inquiries with the hospital where Shyam was working revealed that he had relatives in Vasai, Surat and his hometown Bihar.
The police found that he had taken an advance of Rs 10,000 on his salary on Saturday evening and left in a hurry. The police then contacted Shyam’s relatives.
“After drawing a blank in Vasai and Bihar, we sent a team to Surat. From his relatives, we found that Shyam had indeed come to Surat but had left only a short while before our team reached. Our team then split up, with one going to the Surat railway station and the other heading to the nearest bus depot.
Found at railway station
Shyam and Arnav were found at the station. Both were brought to Mumbai, after which Shyam was arrested and Arnav was reunited with Reshma on Sunday,” said senior police inspector Milind Khetle, Malwani police station.
Shyam has allegedly told the police that he planned to take Arnav to Bihar, keep him there for a few days, and then bring him back to Mumbai, just to teach Reshma a lesson. He was produced in court on Monday and remanded in judicial custody.
The child was kidnapped by her colleague after their friendship went sour
