“On Saturday morning, a relative who stays near my house had organised a pooja at his house. The children were causing a lot of ruckus. So we told them to go out and play downstairs. At 11 am, I left my six-year-old son who was playing with other children. At 11.30 am, I received a call from a man who said that he had my son with him. He immediately disconnected the line and I began searching for my child. When I couldn’t find him anywhere, I realised that my son had been kidnapped. But when I called back to the number, it was switched off,” said the kidnapped boy’s father on condition of anonymity.

He said that he had received the next call at 5 pm on the same day. By the time he had already informed the Antop Hill police about the incident. “The kidnapper had demanded a ransom of Rs 30 lakh, but I told them that I didn’t have that much money. I bargained with them for Rs 2.5 lakh and was asked by them to go to Kurla with the cash. I had filled some papers in the bag and went to Kurla along with some police personnel. But there I received a call asking me to go to Vikhroli Bridge. I reached there but was asked to leave for Airoli. The kidnapper asked me to leave the money bag in a drain. He also asked me to get my son from Bhandup. But I disagreed saying that my son and money should be exchanged at the same time,” he said.

The boy’s father and some police personnel had waited at Airoli Toll Bridge till 11.45 pm. But as his cellphone battery died, he returned to home at 3 am on Sunday. There was no other mode of communication available with them at that poit of time.

The next day, the kidnappers called him in the evening and accused him of informing the police. “But I denied any police involvement and told him that I had fainted owing to the tiring travel across the city and hence was unable to receive his calls. He told me to come to Bandra at 6.30 pm from where I was called to Thane and finally to the Hillock in Mumbra. I reached there at 8.30 pm. The kidnapper called me and told me that I should keep the bag there and that I would find my son at Mumbra station. I could hear the siren of a train in the background and I fled the spot. The police found my son at the station,” he said.