Police investigation revealed that kidnapping was planned by the toddler's cousin (Representational)
A 20-year-old man was arrested on Thursday for planning the kidnapping of his two-year-old cousin, who has been safely recovered, in Uttar Pradesh's Noida, police said.
Two friends of the main accused were also involved in the planning and one of them has been arrested while search is on for the other man, the police said.
On Tuesday, Sandeep Yadav, a resident of Sarfabad village in Sector 73, informed police around 12.30 pm that his toddler son was playing outside the house but went missing after 9 am.
"Later he got a call from kidnappers who demanded some money in exchange of the child and threatened to kill the toddler otherwise. An FIR was immediately lodged at the local Sector 49 police station and a probe launched," Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shriparna Ganguly said.
"The police immediately got cracking on the case and within an hour got an input that the child has been found abandoned in a park near Sector 51 metro station. The child was recovered safely," police said, adding that Crime Branch and SWAT teams were working on the case.
Further police investigation, however, revealed that the kidnapping was planned by Piyush Yadav (20), the toddler's cousin. He had roped in two of his friends for the job and helped them pick the child up from outside the house on Tuesday morning.
"The police were initially wondering if the kidnapping was done by a gang but you would be shocked to know that it was the cousin of the victim who had plotted this crime. The plan was made randomly by them when they were thinking of ways to make quick and easy money," police said.
During interrogation, Piyush told the police that he had taken the child outside their home on the pretext of playing on Tuesday morning. Soon his partners-in-crime arrived on a motorcycle and he handed over the child to them. Piyush returned home and informed the family that the child had gone missing.
"Once the child's father got the ransom call, he informed the police. Seeing the police swinging into action, Piyush called up his partners and informed them about the matter getting serious and they realised they could be in trouble," the officer said.
"In less than an hour since the call to the police, the kidnappers brought the child and left him in a park near Sector 51 metro station and the police were tipped off about his presence there," she added.
One of the two friends involved in the kidnapping, Zubair (18), has been arrested while search is on for the other, she said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)