After four days of the six-year-old girl being abducted, she was safely returned home, but the kidnappers were still on the loose. Despite criticism, the police were actually waiting to make a move. With the help of CCTV footage and the child’s description, they were able to identify the suspect and apprehend him near the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. The investigation also involved profiling the abductors and gathering information from informants. KP Saikiran reported
Four days had passed since the six-year-old girl had been kidnapped, and although she had been safely returned home, the kidnappers were still on the loose. The Kerala Police’s credibility was being questioned by trolls and there were whispers in serious circles that the esteemed police force had lost their way. However, the public perception couldn’t have been more wrong. The police were actually biding their time, waiting for the perfect moment to reveal their strategy. They were pretending to be confused and leading everyone on a misleading path, especially the suspects themselves, thanks to the continuous media coverage.
The breakthrough in the case came from an automatic number plate recognition camera near Asramam junction in Kollam, where the child was dropped off by the kidnappers. The child had mentioned that she was dropped off in a blue car, so the police began searching for all blue cars from the CCTV footage in the area where she was dropped, one hour before and one hour after the incident. This led them to gather visuals of 56 blue cars. Simultaneously, the police were working with the child to create a sketch of the kidnapper, which resulted in three sketches. The photograph of the owner of one of the blue cars, a Hyundai Verna, matched the description given by the child. The child had also provided additional details, such as the presence of a white dog in the house and that the house was two-storied. On Thursday night, a police officer involved in the investigation went to the address given in the RC book of the vehicle and discovered a white Swift D’Zire. The police also released the sketch of the suspect, and on Friday morning, a similar blue car was captured on camera near the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. The details matched with the RC owner’s description, leading the police to believe that the person was associated with the case and attempting to flee the state. The police team from Kollam city apprehended him near Thenkasi.
In the first 24 hours after the incident, the police in Kollam became aware of the possible kidnapping of a six-year-old girl from Oyoor. They immediately took action and registered an FIR four hours later. However, by that time, there was already a media frenzy surrounding the abduction, with news channels reporting on it non-stop. The first ransom call had also been made to the child’s mother. Recognizing the seriousness of the situation, the top police officials set up an informal war room. They soon realized that they had no standard operating procedures for a kidnapping involving a child. This was uncharted territory for them, and they couldn’t recall a similar incident from the past. The investigation started with the usual steps, such as checking CCTV footage and issuing a statewide alert. Physical searches for vehicles were conducted in neighboring districts, but the abductors seemed to have taken precautions to avoid being traced. The vehicle’s registration number was not clear in any of the available CCTV footage, and only two digits were identifiable. It took time to reconstruct the full number, but by then, it was found to be fake. The search efforts at the inter-state borders were unsuccessful, and by the next day, the situation had become increasingly grave.
With no concrete leads, the police decided to take the investigation to the next level. They began profiling the abductors based on the available clues. The calm and composed demeanor of the woman who made the ransom call suggested that she may not be a first-time criminal. The abductors had also taken care not to harm the child and eventually released her, indicating that they were aware their chances of escape were diminishing. The police meticulously checked their crime database for any potential matches based on gender, age estimated from the suspects’ voices, and familiarity with the region. They also attempted to trace the vehicle by analyzing the year of manufacture and other details from the motor vehicles department’s database. Former DGP A Hemachandran noted that scientific investigation in such cases is a massive task, requiring the narrowing down of vast amounts of data through elimination.
Sketches of the suspects were released to the public, but they did not yield any useful information. In desperate measures, the police turned to intense techniques. In a similar case, the crime branch had analyzed over 10,000 calls made under the tower location where a murder occurred, eventually leading them to the culprit. The police also sought inputs from individuals with a criminal past, recognizing the value of their knowledge and experience. Profiling of the victim’s relatives was conducted, including a thorough investigation of their activities, relationships with the victim, and any animosity towards her. Phone records were scrutinized, particularly those in the days preceding the incident, to uncover any suspicious activity.
The investigation was complex and challenging, but the police were determined to solve the case and bring the kidnappers to justice. Their patience, perseverance, and utilization of various resources ultimately led to the breakthrough that resulted in the apprehension of the suspect..