‘Jilted friend’ kidnaps Malad woman’s son

‘Jilted friend’ kidnaps Malad woman’s son
A friendship-gone-sour led to the kidnapping of a two-year-old boy in Malad last Saturday. Officers from Malwani Police Station, who traced the kidnapper and the boy to Surat and reunited the child with his mother on Sunday (Mother’s Day), identified the accused as Shyam Mandal, 25, a Malad resident who worked in a private hospital.

Police said that around five years ago, Mandal and the boy’s mother Reshma Patil, forged a friendship while working at the hospital. “Mandal would often visit Reshma’s house and became well-acquainted with her husband and the couple’s son, Arnav. However, the friendship turned sour around six months ago, and Reshma blocked his mobile phone number,” an officer from Malwani Police Station said.

On Friday afternoon, Mandal barged into Reshma’s house and the two had an argument. He even assaulted her, the complaint said. “After leaving the place, Mandal went to her sister’s house in Azmi Nagar in Malwani. He was aware that Arnav was with Reshma’s sister, and on the pretext of playing with him, he took him away to Surat,” the officer said.

The police found that Mandal had a relative in Surat, and started tracking him. “Through our informer network in Surat, we learnt that Mandal was spotted with Arnav near the railway station. He was traced around 10 pm on Sunday. The boy was safe and was reunited with his mother. Mandal said he wanted to teach the boy’s mother a lesson,” Senior Inspector Milind Khetle from Malwani Police Station said.