Nagpur: Anees Khan, 50, a ganja addict and small-time thief, allegedly abducted three-year-old Mohd Konen from Santranjipura on Friday with the intention of selling him off to purchase more drugs. The two were spotted by Konen’s uncle at Cotton Market, even though the kidnapper had dressed the boy in a girl’s clothes. Ganeshpeth police reached the spot and took the kidnapper into custody when he was close to being lynched.The high-voltage kidnapping drama by the addict started in the sensitive Satranjipura locality on the day TOI exposed drug cartels and contraband dealers actively operating in the city. BJP’s Hingna MLA Sameer Meghe also raised the issue in the assembly session’s final day, demanding capital punishment in the anti-narcotics law.Anees, whose relative Mohd Chand stays at Satranjipura, is learnt to be a small time thief, who was also externed some years ago. He chose the Friday namaz time to perpetrate his plan of abducting a child from the locality. During namaz, the congested lanes of the Muslim-dominated Satranjipura are mostly desolate. Anees was, however, unaware of CCTVs installed at various places in the lanes, which captured him in the act, leading to his identification and arrest.Konen’s family was busy in namaz and initially clueless that their younger son had been kidnapped, or even missing from the house. Konen’s father Mohd Idris had gone to a mosque with elder son Shivteen, aged around 10. His mother Sana Tabassum too was busy in prayers when Anees walked down from the first floor residence, and onto the road in front. Anees, loitering in the locality for an opportunity, grabbed the friendly Konen by the hand and walked away with him.The family pressed the alarm button when they could not find Konen anywhere. They reached Lakadganj police station, and local residents started scanning the CCTV footage at shops and other establishments for clues. Even as anger over the kidnapping rose, a local resident, Chand, identified the abductor. The cops had by then circulated the photographs and description of the boy in social networks, and on the wireless. Trains too were being checked for the boy.In the meantime, Anees had reached Kamptee by autorickshaw when Konen started crying. Some passers-by alerted Kamptee police station after they overheard Anees threatening the boy that he would sell him off. Kamptee police immediately rushed to the spot but Anees had sneaked away.Following the wireless message about the boy being spotted at Kamptee, Lakadganj police too reached the place. Anees had, by then, changed Konen’s dress and made him wear a girl’s dress, and taken him to Cotton Market, where he was spotted.Ganeshpeth police head constable Anand Wankhede had alerted his network earlier in the day after receiving the social media message. Wankhede, who has detected more than 100 cases in last two years, was alerted by an informer when Anees was spotted by Konen’s uncle, who had reached the place in search of his nephew. The uncle rescued the child, and Anees was beaten up by the crowd at Cotton Market.Wankhede and other staffers under PI Sunil Gangurde managed to rescue Anees before he suffered any serious injuries, and rushed him to Mayo Hospital. He was later handed over to Lakadganj police station.

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