Police arrest kidnappers, rescue one-year-old boy

Open fire on prime accused who attacked them with a knife

The north east division police, early Friday morning, opened fire on a suspect in a kidnapping case after he attacked them while attempting to escape.

On Thursday, the police rescued a one-year-old boy who had been kidnapped from Shabari Nagar in Kothanur by the prime accused, Mohammed Noorulla, 23, and two of his associates. The men had sold the boy to a woman for ₹15,000, said the police.

A special team arrested the associates — Isaq Khan and Abdul Waheed — and rescued the baby from the house of a woman, Shahnaz Khanum, he had been sold to. “Her husband had deserted her, and she sought to procure a male child in the hope getting him back,” said the police.

Shahnaz allegedly approached Mohammed Noorulla, who was dating her eldest daughter, and promised to pay him ₹15,000 for the child. On October 5, Noorulla and his associates, spotted the boy — the only child of a construction labourer and his wife — playing outside his house in Shabari Nagar. The men, who were on a bike, snatched the child and sped off, but did not realise that a CCTV in the vicinty had recorded the abduction.

With the help of the footage, the police identified Isaq and Waheed who in turn led the police to Shahnaz. However, they had yet to nab Noorulla.

On Friday morning, they tracked him to Mittaganahalli, but Noorulla attacked them with a knife in an attempt to escape. “We opened fire, aiming for his left leg,” said the police.

All the four accused have been booked under kidnapping and other charges and remanded them to judicial custody.