DCP to monitor probe into kidnap complaints

Deputy Commissioner of Police Arul R.B. Krishna will investigate the complaints about the prevalence of child adduction rackets run by migrants in the city.

City Police Commissioner M.P. Dinesh entrusted his deputy with the job after the media, including the social media, went abuzz with rumours about such rackets being on the prowl, especially in West Kochi.

Mr. Dinesh sought to allay fears stating that the police were on a constant vigil to nip in the bud the presence of abduction rackets, if any. All necessary preventive measures had been taken and Mr. Krishna would directly monitor the investigation into these complaints, he said.

Mr. Krishna promised a thorough investigation and was determined to expose the facts behind misleading reports and rumour-mongering. “There is no need for parents to panic and be apprehensive. Necessary security measures have been put in place. Police patrolling and beat systems also remain effective and well entrenched,” he said.

The police control room should be promptly alerted about any suspicious movements. Those alerts would be taken seriously and immediate action would be taken, Mr. Krishna said.

Recently, reports about the movement of suspicious persons had poured out from West Kochi, leaving parents scared. The scaremongering on social media didn’t help either.

The other day, locals stopped two inter-State migrant women at Thoppumpady on the suspicion of their links with an abduction racket. They would have been meted out mob justice if not for the timely intervention of the police.

So far, the police have arrested only one woman under IPC 363 (A), for suspected abduction attempt. The police reject other abduction tales as outright fake, often cooked up by the children themselves to mislead their parents for one reason or another.