Coimbatore: Three held for kidnapping 5-month-old tribal girl

Police arrested the two abductors R Ramar, 45, M Murugesan, 29 and also M Muthupandi, 51, who bought the baby. Both the child lifters were working as painters while the buyer was a manager in a coir pith unit.

Police said Ramar and Murugesan noticed the tribal couple Manikandan, 35 and his wife Sangeetha, 27 along with their four children, including the five-month-old girl baby staying in a bus shelter over the last few days. They hailed from Mysuru and were into selling old clothes and scrap.

A few days ago, the duo approached Sangeetha to know if she was interested in selling her baby. As she refused, they left the spot and were waiting for the right time to abduct the baby.

On Tuesday night, Ramar gave Rs 50 to Sangeetha asking her to buy some snacks for the children and also volunteered to take care of the baby. Trusting him, Sangeetha had gone to buy something on the other side of the road, when Ramar escaped with the baby along with his accomplice Murugesan on a bike. The duo then sold the baby to Muthupandi, who was childless for 20 years, for Rs 90,000.

Acting on a complaint, Superintendent of Police S Selvanagarathinam formed eight special teams, who screened images recorded in CCTV’s to gather evidence and zero in on the accused.

All the three accused were produced in a court in Pollachi and remanded to judicial custody. The rescued baby was handed over to its parents. The accused were to be detained under the Goondas Act.