Kidnap that kept Kerala on the edge

The incident where a six-year-old girl was kidnapped from Oyoor near Pooyappally had put the whole of Kerala on edge. It was also a rare incident where the police, media and local people came together to find the child. When the child was found abandoned in the Ashramam Grounds in Kollam a day after the abduction, not only the parents and relatives but every family in Kerala heaved a sigh of relief. However, it took two more days to find out who were behind the kidnap. Meanwhile, many stories spread in the state. Mysteries were increasing with each passing moment. The accused were trapped by the proper investigation conducted by the police team. There is no doubt that it was the excellence of the police investigation that led to the arrest of the accused. People, who often blame the police for everything, do not tend to appreciate them when they do something remarkable. Good police officers do not care for the harsh words from the public. They always try to do their duties sincerely. The police may naturally make some mistakes in the meantime. It is not a good thing to raise prejudiced accusations against the police in the name of these lapses. This is also an incident that has proved that Kerala Police is at the forefront in proving crimes quickly. Congratulations to Law and Order ADGP MR Ajith Kumar, IG Spurgeon Kumar and DIG Nishanthini, who supervised the investigation and Kollam Rural Additional SP Prathapan Nair, Pooyapally CI ST Biju and other police officers who were part of the extensive investigation team.

The main accused in the kidnapping case, Padmakumar, his wife Anithakumari and daughter Anupama were arrested by the police from Tenkasi. As soon as the child's abduction incident came to light, the media spread the information to every nook and corner of Kerala. With this, the people became vigilant. It is this public vigilance that completely closed the possibility of the accused leaving the state with the child. They abandoned the child in Ashramam ground after realizing that even their lives would be in danger if they were caught with the child in public. They had initially planned to kidnap the six-year-old girl and her elder brother. However, the boy resisted and escaped from them. It was from that moment that the gang's plan began to fail. In the meantime, many accusations started spreading against the father of the kidnapped child. However, the revelation of the police that the father has no connection with the abduction should be taken at face value. Many questions still need to be answered. The main one is why they planned to kidnap this particular child. The fact that Padmakumar's debt will not be settled even if he receives Rs 10 lakh and that he had the assets to look for other ways to settle the debt is also raising suspicions. Let us hope that all this will be clarified in the coming days. Whatever the reason, kidnapping a six-year-old girl is a heinous crime. Therefore, steps are needed to give exemplary punishment to the accused.