A 52-year-old assistant professor of physics was arrested early on Monday for allegedly kidnapping a four-year-old girl from a footpath in Dum Dum and keeping her confined in a flat in Kasba.
The professor’s daughter, 20, and brother, 44, were also arrested in connection with the incident.
The woman was identified by police as Arunima Chanda, a faculty member at a college in Garia. Her daughter, Anuska Chanda Chowdhury, and her brother, Anupava Chanda, were also named in the case.
All three have been charged under sections related to kidnapping a minor, a crime that can carry a sentence of up to seven years in prison if convicted.
The arrests followed a complaint lodged at Sinthee police station by a footpath dweller from the Dum Dum Chatal area. The woman reported that one of her four children, a four-year-old daughter, had gone missing while playing on the pavement on September 16.
“According to the mother’s complaint, the girl was last seen playing with other
children in the area. She suspected that someone had kidnapped her daughter. CCTV footage showed a woman picking up the child and taking her to the Dum Dum Metro station,” said an officer of the North Division of Kolkata Police.
Officers scanned camera footage from multiple Metro stations. At Kavi Nazrul (Garia Bazar) station, the same woman was spotted again, this time exiting the
station with the child in her arms. Another woman appeared to join her outside the station, and the two boarded an autorickshaw heading towards Baruipur, a police officer said.
Over the next five days, the police continued to track the suspects. “After five days, we could get the details of the autorickshaw in which the two women travelled with
the child. We traced the auto and found out that they got
off outside an apartment complex in Sonarpur,” an officer said.
From there, officers were able to establish the identity of the older woman as Arunima Chanda. “We went to
her home and detained her early on Monday,” the officer added.
Police sources said Arunima’s daughter and brother were detained while allegedly attempting to flee in an app cab. The same vehicle had been used to move the child from the Sonarpur apartment to another location in Kasba, the police said.
“Based on the app cab driver’s statement, a police team raided a house in Kasba and found the child there,” a senior police officer said.
After the recovery of the child, the three accused were formally arrested from the Kasba address.
The three were produced before the Sealdah court later in the day.
The public prosecutor sought police remand, saying it was necessary to determine the motive.
The court granted remand till September 26.
Police sources said that during initial questioning, the professor claimed to have “adopted” the child but could not produce any valid documents.
Officers are now verifying the credentials of the three accused and checking for past criminal records.
The process of reuniting the rescued child with her parents was initiated on Monday.