Police rescue 10-year-old girl kidnapped from east Delhi, 1 held

A 10-year-old girl who was kidnapped from northeast Delhi's Nandnagri was rescued safely from the clutches of her abductor and reunited with her family, police said on Wednesday. The accused, Mohammad Iqbal (28), has been arrested.

New Delhi:A 10-year-old girl who was kidnapped from northeast Delhi's Nandnagri was rescued safely from the clutches of her abductor and reunited with her family, police said on Wednesday. The accused, Mohammad Iqbal (28), has been arrested. iqbal, a resident of Nindru village in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh, was a "notorious" criminal named in two rape cases and cases under the Arms Act, police said.

The girl was kidnapped while she was playing outside her sister's house on June 19. She was rescued from the densely-populated Mulla colony of Ghazipur in east Delhi, police said, adding that the accused had abducted her with an intention to commit sexual assault.

According to police, the girl had gone to her sister's house around two weeks ago from her native place in Ghaziabad's Loni for a short stay. On June 19th evening, when she was playing outside her sister's house, the accused, who was a relative of her sister's neighbour, lured her and took her along with him.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast) Joy Tirkey said, initially, police did not have any clue about the suspect as he was not carrying a mobile phone and those related to him had gone outstation to attend a funeral. Subsequently, it was learnt that the suspect was previously involved in several criminal cases.

CCTV footage showed the suspect taking the victim along with him at 6.45 pm on June 19. The daughter of the accused was also seen in the footage. Iqbal was seen headed towards the Wazirabad road from Sunder Nagri along with the girls, the officer said.

"A police team was immediately sent to the suspect's village in Bijnor. His relatives told police that he rarely stayed home and mostly kept bad company. His wife left him in 2019. One of his brothers, Azad, was in the Kasna jail in an NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act) case," he added.

It was also alleged that Iqbal had recently brought a woman and her two children from Dhampur in Uttar Pradesh. He was staying in a rented room in the Mulla colony for 15 days, police said. "We sent a police team to the Mulla colony, along with photographs of the accused and the victim.

The team conducted a door-to-door survey at the Mulla colony, which is very densely populated, and Iqbal was apprehended from there. The victim girl was also safely rescued," the DCP said. The accused was planning to head to his native village in Bijnor with the girl, police said. (PTI)