Pune, 30 July 2025: In a swift and coordinated operation, Pune Police rescued a two-year-old girl who was kidnapped from the Katraj area and taken all the way to Dharashiv district. The girl was abducted on the night of July 25 while she was sleeping with her parents in their hut in the Wonders City slum.
The child’s father, Dhansingh Kale (25), lodged a complaint at the Bharati Vidyapeeth Police Station, after which a kidnapping case was registered on July 26.
Taking the matter seriously, teams from the Bharati Vidyapeeth police and the city’s Crime Branch launched a joint investigation. Over 140 CCTV camera footages from the route between Katraj and Pune Railway Station were examined. Footage revealed two men and a woman transporting the child on a two-wheeler towards the station. Additional footage from the station itself showed two more suspects, confirming the involvement of a five-member gang.
Further leads pointed investigators to a Pardhi settlement in Tuljapur, Dharashiv district. With assistance from the local crime branch, the team arrested three suspects: Sunil Sitarm Bhosale (51), Shankar Ujanya Pawar (50), and Shalubai Prakash Kale (45). The kidnapped girl was found safe with them. During questioning, they revealed their plan of using the child for begging.
Following this, two more accomplices were arrested, Ganesh Babu Pawar (35) and Mangal Harful Kale (19), both residents of the Khadki railway slum in Pune.
The accused confessed to abducting the girl with the intention of forcing her into begging. All five have been remanded to police custody till August 2.
The operation was carried out under the supervision of Additional CP Pankaj Deshmukh, Additional CP Rajesh Bansode, DCP Milind Mohite, and ACP Rahul Aware. It was executed by Senior Inspector Rahul Khilare, Inspectors Jitendra Kadam, Kumar Ghatge, Anjum Bagwan, and API Ashish Kavathekar along with the Crime Branch team.
