Kidnapped boy traced to Lucknow, couple arrested

Noida (UP): A six-year-old boy kidnapped from near his residence last week here, was recovered from Lucknow and a married couple has been arrested in the case, police said on Sunday. Besides the couple, who hailed from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, a man who helped them in Lucknow with an accommodation had also been arrested, police said.

The child was playing near his residence at Gijhod village in Noida, when he suddenly went missing on July 9 evening, a senior official said.

Soon a case was registered at the Sector 24 police station and a probe was undertaken to trace Utkarsh, Gautam Buddh Nagar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Vaibhav Krishna said.

"The CCTV footage of the area was scanned and the married couple, Pradeep Dubey and his wife Pinky Dubey, were seen abducting the child from the lane near the house around 7 pm," the SSP said.

"Pradeep covered Utkarsh's mouth with his hand to prevent him from shouting and the two quickly fled from the spot," he told reporters.

"The couple, which had only six months ago moved to the village, immediately left with the child for Lucknow. Our crime branch team and the Sector 24 police initiated electronic surveillance following credible inputs about their presence in the state capital, from where they were arrested this morning," Krishna said.

Krishna said that during questioning, the husband-wife duo told them that they were unable to conceive a child ever since their marriage, for which their relatives and other people "used to taunt them".

"Unable to take the humiliation any longer, the couple left home and came to live in Noida," the SSP said. "Later, they told people back in Jaunapur that Pinky has given birth to a child and it has been over two years since they went back home," he said.