A five-year-old boy who went missing from Bhagat Singh Nagar in the town, amid Deepavali celebrations on Saturday evening, is suspected to have been kidnapped. Nearly 24 hours after the incident, the Suryapet police is left with one clue, the alleged kidnapper’s phone call to a neighbour, which is leading the multi-level investigation now.
The boy’s mother Naga Lakshmi said Gowtham left the house with a ₹ 50 note on his bicycle at around 7.30 p.m., to the nearby Sri Dharani Kirana store to get lamp oil and a matchbox. However, when she stepped out to check, suspecting more time being taken than usual, only the boy’s bicycle was found around the street corner, she said. Parikipalli Mahesh, the boy’s father, a cab driver was not at the house during the incident.
According to the storekeeper, and the locals, there were new persons in the colony, but their presence did not evoke suspicion as it was a festive occasion. Parents soon filed a missing person’s complaint, and local searches for the only child Gowtham continued till after midnight. The first direct clue to the locals, the family and the police came at around 8.30 a.m. on Sunday, when an unidentified person called the Swastik ladies tailors, located behind Gowtham’s house. But the woman rejected it as a wrong call as the family did not have a child.
According to police sources, the ladies tailor’s phone number was prominent on a flex sign board in the street. The police collected her phone for investigation purposes. The town police was found collecting information from the colony dwellers and the police along the NH-65 (Hyderabad-Vijayawada) was alerted. Footage from a few CCTV units on the route outside the Bhagat Singh Nagar colony and the main junctions was also retrieved and were being rummaged.
It was learnt Superintendent of Police R. Bhaaskaran has formed four teams – a local, a technical and two outstation teams to gather intelligence to trace the boy at the earliest.
And, call detail records of the parents and others were also generated, to disprove certain versions and arrive at evidence, a police source added.
