The Shantinagar Police arrested three individuals for allegedly abducting a 3.5-year-old boy in Bhiwandi with the intention of selling him. The boy was rescued by the police.

The accused have been identified as Mohammad Yunish Shah (53), a resident of the Ramnagar area in Bhiwandi, and Pir Mohammed Rafique Ahmad Shah (39) and Samsuddin Mukhtar Shah (45), both residents of Kurla.

According to the police, the boy, identified as Atik Vadud Ansari, disappeared from outside his house. His mother searched for him and alerted her husband and relatives when she couldn't find him. Despite their efforts, the boy remained untraceable. On November 17, the family rushed to the police station and filed a complaint against an unknown person for abduction. A case was registered under Section 137(2) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Senior Police Inspector Vinayak Gaikwad from Shantinagar Police Station said, "We formed a team of officers and circulated the boy’s photo across the locality. A hotel owner contacted us after recognizing the boy’s photo and reported that a man was seen at the hotel feeding the boy. When we traced the man, he initially claimed he had only given the boy some food and didn’t know where he went. However, after reviewing CCTV footage from the area, we observed him holding the boy. Subsequently, we arrested Mohammad Yunish Shah on November 19."

During interrogation, Yunish confessed to abducting the boy and selling him for ₹60,000 to his relative, Mohammad Rafique Ahmad Shah, whose wife was childless. Yunish further revealed that on the day of the abduction, he took the boy to the Narpoli area in Bhiwandi. Rafique and his friend Samsuddin arrived in a private car from Kurla, collected the boy, and returned to Kurla.