Kollam: The police have taken certain suspects into custody for questioning in the abduction case of a six-year-old in Oyoor, according to reports.
A resident of Kirinkara in Chathannoor, who is suspected to have provided fake number plates to the accused for the white car, is currently in police custody, sources said.
The registration of the white sedan in which the child was taken later emerged to be fake. It is suspected that the accused used more than one fake vehicle registration plates to mislead the cops. The police is yet to trace the car.
The child was taken around the town in a car and autorickshaw after the abduction. The abductors covered her mouth and also forcefully held her head down at times, the girl said in a statement to the police. Efforts are also on to trace the auto hired by the gang. "The auto had a red-coloured painting on the front. There was also something written on its windshield," police said.
Sketches of 3 suspects
The police also released the sketches of three suspects on Thursday. The Kollam Rural Police have asked the public to contact them in the number 9497980211 in case of any leads on their whereabouts.
Investigation surrounding child's father
At the same time, the child's father Reji is also being investigated. The child's father is a nurse at a private hospital in Pathanamthitta. He is also the president of United Nurses Association's Pathanamthitta district unit. Reji's wife Siji was also an active member of UNA.
The police have questioned some members of UNA. Police are probing whether financial transactions related to the recruitment of nurses and admission to nursing courses led to the abduction. The police also suspect that some people with prior enmity may have sought the help of a quotation gang for the abduction. There is also an unconfirmed information that Rs 10 lakh demanded as ransom was transferred from one of the Gulf countries.
The child's father has accused the police of excluding him in the first stages of the investigation and targeting him in the subsequent stages. The cops have confiscated his old phone from his quarters, he said adding that he had left the phone there to prevent the children from using it to play games.
“Let the police prove if there is any complaint against me regarding irregularities related to the OET (Occupational English Test) examination,” he said.
Reji's six-year-old daughter who was abducted from Kollam's Oyoor was found nearly 21 hours after the kidnapping. The abductors had left young girl on a bench at the Asramam Maidan in Kollam, where she was spotted by members of the public, who informed the police.
