A five-year-old child was rescued within hours of being kidnapped in Gujarat’s Amreli district in a coordinated operation by police. The 15-hour-long operation involved scanning CCTV footage from 170 locations and finally catching the suspect in Rajkot district.
The kidnapping happened in Amreli’s Mota Ankadiya village. The suspect, identified as 25-year-old Lalit Rupsinghbhai Jamre, met the child’s family for the first time six months ago. Lalit reappeared at the family’s farm around 10 days prior to the kidnapping, requesting temporary shelter until he found work. Believing him to be a trustworthy acquaintance, the child’s father, Rakesh Bamaniya, a migrant agricultural worker from Madhya Pradesh, agreed to host him.
On the day of the incident, the child’s parents, while working in their field, heard a motorcycle engine starting. They watched as Lalit rode off with his five-year-old son on Rakesh’s bike. When neither returned after a long time, Rakesh searched the local village and alerted neighbouring farm owners before reporting the matter to the Amreli Rural Police Station.
Investigating the kidnapping posed a severe challenge, as Lalit did not carry a mobile phone, leaving law enforcement without technical phone-location tracking. Armed only with the suspect’s name and the registration number of the stolen motorcycle, police initiated a multi-agency operation.
Five special teams from the Amreli Local Crime Branch and Amreli Rural Police Station were immediately mobilised. Investigators contacted surveillance branches in Amreli and Rajkot, as well as the Trinetra state control room in Gandhinagar, to track the motorcycle’s movements across highway networks.
A meticulous 15-hour investigation ensued, during which officers analysed camera footage from over 170 CCTV locations. The digital trail led officers along the Rajkot-Porbandar National Highway, through railway stations, bus stands, and commercial hubs, ultimately pinpointing the suspect’s path towards Gondal in Rajkot.
Deploying ground intelligence, officers swept local shelters, eateries, guest houses, and agricultural farmlands across Rajkot’s Virpur area. Police ultimately managed to intercept Lalit over 100 kilometres from where he kidnapped the child. They took him into custody and safely recovered the five-year-old unharmed.
The child was immediately reunited with his emotional parents at the police station. Lalit, originally hailing from Barwani district in Madhya Pradesh, remains in police custody under remand as authorities continue their investigation to determine the precise motive behind the abduction.
