Kollam: The police on Friday arrested three including two women and a man from Tamil Nadu's Thenkasi over involvement in the Kollam child abduction case. The three people in police custody are Chathannur native Padmakumar, his wife Anitha and daughter Anupama, reported Manorama News. The six-year-old girl who was abducted on November 27 reportedly identified the man in police custody.
A team of Pooyappally police reached the girl's residence and showed the photos of the three people who were taken into custody. It is learnt that though the child told the cops that she never saw the trio, later she recognised Padmakumar. The sketch released by the probe team after finding the girl also matched with Padmakumar.
The probe team is currently interrogating the family at Adoor KAP camp. Manorama News reported that Padmakumar denied involvement of his wife and daughter in the crime. His neighbours told Manorama News that Padmakumar has been engaged in Cable TV-related works and businesses including bakery and a farm.
A squad led by the Kollam city police commissioner also seized two vehicles from the accused. According to police, a financial dispute with the six-year-old girl's father ended up in the abduction.
Mysterious cars
The child who was allegedly abducted by Padmakumar and his gang told police that she was taken in a blue car to a big house. It is suspected that the gang took the child to Padmakumar's house at Chathannoor. Confirming the girl's statement, the neighbours also told Manorama News that Padmakumar used to travel in a blue car and there were two dogs in his house. Police also confirmed that he also owned a white car in which the girl was abducted from Oyoor. Both cars are registered in Padmakumar's name.
Meanwhile, they asserted that Padmakumar's family has no connection with nursing recruitment as his daughter was not a nursing student. At the same time, they added that the family had some financial issues.
Manorama News reported that the probe team traced the three accused in the investigation based on the mobile tower location. It is learnt that the accused were nabbed from a restaurant in Thenkasi's Puliyara around 2.30 pm on Friday.
The abduction on Nov 27
The child was kidnapped by a three-member gang in a white car from Kollam's Oyoor on November 27 when she was on the way to a tuition centre along with her brother. She was found abandoned in Ashramam Maidan nearly 21 hours after the abduction.
It is alleged that a fraud related to nurses' recruitment in which the girl's father Reji was involved led to the child's abduction. Meanwhile, Reji rubbished the allegations and asserted that he never came into contact with any Chathannur native.
Meanwhile, the Kerala police have come under fire for lapses in nabbing the accused. Though police have released several sketches of the accused, the child didn't identify it.
