3-year-old boy kidnapped from UP's Hardoi recovered in Telangana

Hardoi (UP) Mar 19 (PTI) A three-year-old boy kidnapped from a Tilak ceremony in Hardoi has been recovered from Telangana after a 28-day search and reunited with his family, police said.
     The child, Hrithik, was abducted from Gauriyakala village in the Atrauli police station area on February 21.
     "Three men, Abhay Verma from Sitapur, Umashankar from Lucknow and Sonia alias Sunita from Delhi have been arrested for their involvement in the kidnapping and sale of the child," said Superintendent of Police (SP) Neeraj Kumar.
     "Hrithik went missing amidst the festivities. Despite extensive searches involving sniffer dogs and drones, Hrithik could not be located initially," added the officer.
     The investigation uncovered similar cases in Sitapur, where two other three-year-old children, Aryan and Kartik, had also disappeared. Connecting these incidents, the police identified Abhay Verma, Umashankar and Sonia alias Sunita as suspects.
     "When the police interrogated this woman, the whole secret was revealed that all the children were sold in Telangana," SP Kumar explained.
     A police team was dispatched to Telangana, where they successfully recovered Hrithik.
     The SP confirmed that the children were being sold for Rs 5 lakh each. He also said a team is currently working to recover the other two children from Sitapur.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)