Kollam (Kerala):The six-year-old girl abducted on Tuesday from the southern Kerala town of Pooyappally was found abandoned but safe in a public area here on Tuesday afternoon, police and local body officials said. The child was taken to a nearby hospital for medical check-up.
Police officials were seen carrying the girl in their arms to their vehicles and taking her away for a medical examination. Information about the child being abandoned in Kollam's Asramam ground was received while police were desperately searching for the girl.
Earlier in the day, while state ministers expressed confidence in the police investigation, the youth wing of Congress held a silent protest outside the Pooyappally police station over the delay in the rescue of the girl and also indicated their dissatisfaction with the investigation. The police had said that it was exploring all angles to locate the missing child and had also released a sketch of the suspected kidnapper.
The kidnappers, suspected to be four in number including a woman, came in a white car and abducted the girl when she was on her way to tuition classes along with her eight-year-old brother, according to the boy's statement to the police. When the boy tried to stop the abductors, they pushed him aside and whisked the girl away in the car, an officer from the Pooyappally police station had said on Monday.
The boy suffered injuries to his knees while trying to save his sister, police had said. The incident occurred on Monday between 4 pm and 4.30 pm, according to the police. According to visuals shown on television news channels, two ransom calls were allegedly made by the kidnappers. Initially, they demanded Rs 5 lakh and then later doubled the figure.