Abducted boy bartered for bulls recovered

31 Mar, 2007
PATNA: Police on Thursday night recovered a four-year-old boy, Pappu, who was bartered for two bulls. Pappu, son of Kuru Sao, a fruit seller, went missing under mysterious circumstances while he was playing near the Baldeo High School in Pirmuhani on March 22.

When Pappu did not return home till late in night, his family members lodged a missing person report with the Gandhi Maidan police station. Officer in-charge (OC) of the Gandhi Maidan police station Mudrika Prasad said that one Ranjit Kumar, a resident of Fatuha, had kidnapped Pappu on the fateful day.

He said that Ranjit was well acquainted with the victim's family members as his sasural (in-laws' house) is located close to Kuru's in-laws' house at Gaurichak. The OC said that the missing case was converted into a kidnapping case and a a police team carried out a raid at Ranjit's house at Fatuha and arrested him.

During interrogation, Ranjit disclosed that the boy had been kept in Baliyari village under the Bikram police station. A police team carried out a raid at the house of one Anup Yadav in Baliyari village and recovered the child from there.

Anup was also arrested, the OC added. The police officer said that the policemen were stunned when Ranjit disclosed that he had taken two bulls from Anup Yadav in lieu of Pappu.

Ranjit further told the police that Kuru Sao had taken Rs 3,000 from him and that he had kidnapped Pappu to teach him (Kuru) a lesson, the OC said, adding that the boy was later handed over to his parents.