The girl was reunited with her parents after a medical examination, police said (Representational)
In a swift action, police rescued a five-year-old girl kidnapped allegedly by two women from the Mumbai suburb of Bhandup with an intention to sell her, just 12 hours after the crime took place, an official said on Monday.
Four women, two of them directly involved in the minor's kidnapping, were arrested from the Balkum area in adjoining Thane city and the girl was later reunited with her family, he said.
The accused women had planned to sell the girl for financial benefits. Post-abduction from Mumbai, the child was kept with two of the four women, both staying in Thane, the official said.
The incident took place on Sunday evening when the girl went out to purchase balloons for Holi celebrations. When she did not return home till late in the evening, her parents got worried and started a frantic search for their daughter, he said.
Some residents of the area in suburban Bhandup saw the girl going with two women in an auto-rickshaw. One of them, later identified as Khushboo Gupta, stays in the same locality, the official said.
The girl's parents approached the Bhandup police station and lodged a complaint, based on which a case of kidnapping was registered.
The police launched a search for the girl and apprehended Gupta. During interrogation, she admitted that along with another woman, Maina Dillod, she abducted the girl by promising her to buy a chocolate, and took her to Thane, the official said.
The girl was taken to Balkum in Thane city, where she was kept with the other two women. Accordingly, a police team on Monday morning conducted a search in Balkum and rescued the girl just 12 hours after she was kidnapped, he said.
The police arrested the two Thane-based women, Divya Singh and Payal Shah, for their involvement in the entire kidnap episode, the official said.
The girl was reunited with her parents after a medical examination.
The arrested women were produced before a court which sent them to police custody till Friday, the official added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)