Abducted infant from Chotila rescued from Bavla, couple arrested

RAJKOT: Surendranagar police have rescued the seven-month-old boy who was kidnapped from a guesthouse in Chotila town on October 25 and arrested a couple for the crime.
The boy, Yug, was rescued from Bavla town near Ahmedabad on Monday night. Yug, son of Rajkot-based couple Vimal Prajapati and Kanchan, was kidnapped by the woman from the guest house dormitory.CCTV footages showed the woman taking away the child.
After working tirelessly for three days in the festive season, the team of Surendranagar police arrested Vinu Solanki (48), a farm labourer and his wife Shilpa. "The couple confessed to the crime and told police that they abducted the boy because they did not have children," R V Asari, superintendent of police, Surendranagar, told TOI.
"Detailed analysis of the CCTV footage also showed a man carrying a ladies purse. The man was seen few seconds after the woman was seen taking away the child. Following this clue, we checked the visitor's book and found a voter's ID card of Vinu Solanki," Asari added.
Police traced Solanki to Mandva village in Gadhda taluka of Botad district and detained him. He revealed the location of his wife to Bavla from where the child was rescued.
Shilpa, who is also a farm labourer, is a native of Maharashtra. "Had we been a couple of hours late, it would have been very difficult to trace the child because Shilpa was preparing to leave for Maharashtra," said Asarai.
Police learnt that Shilpa had miscarriage in the past and was unable to conceive thereafter. She was longing for a child. "Solanki had even asked her to adopt a child but Shilpa was too desperate which led them to plan the kidnapping and come to Chotila,'' an investigating official said.
Prajapati and his wife had come to Chotila to offer prayers on the occasion of New Year.
"Primarily, it looks like Solanki has no criminal record and they kidnapped the boy to nurture as their own child," the official added.