Sniffer dog traces missing boy’s smell to rickshaw stand
The Mumbai Police Dog Squad has made a breakthrough in a case involving the alleged abduction of six-year-old Karnik Shah from Kandivli. According to police officers from the North region Dog Squad, traces of the boy’s odour were marked by the sniffer dog and led to the rickshaw stand.
“We had marked the smell of Karnik through his clothes for the dog to locate his last position and possible line of movement,” informed the senior officer, Dog Squad.
The dog has mapped the movement of Karnik from his building gate to Mahavir Nagar rickshaw stand, which is almost 40 meters away. “There is a strong possibility that Karnik was moved from the building and then travelled through the rickshaw, as the odour of his sweat gets weak over at the rickshaw stand,” added the officer.
Apart from the Dog Squad, Unit 11 and Unit 12 of Crime Branch have been pressed into the action following directions from Commissioner Arup Patnaik.
The case
On Wednesday, at around 7pm, Karnik was reported missing by his parents at the Kandivli police station. “The building children were playing a cricket match after which Karnik never returned home,” said Anand Shah, father of the missing child. Studying in Senior KG, Karnik was a very smart kid at the Mahavir Nagar society.
From the time the cricket game got over, no one has recalled having seen the boy in the locality. Police are now confirming that it could possibly be a case of abduction for money.
“His father who previously worked as a share broker, now runs a super specialty eye-testing centre. The family has plentiful earning thus making it possible for someone to abduct Karnik to extract money,” added a senior police inspector, Kandivli.
Kidnapper identified
The residential society where the Shahs live also has a small temple, which is visited by hundreds of devotees. According to the police and their informants, a youth by the name of Sunny (in his 30s) is the probable abductor. “He was reported by onlookers and residents of the colony to be very friendly with the kids. Since the day Karnik went missing, Sunny is nowhere to be seen, adding to speculations that he could be the person behind the kidnapping,” said the officer.
The police have also detained another youth who, they claim is associated with Sunny and have prepared a sketch of the abductor. “We have lodged a man-hunt for the person and will strongly pursue the case,” added the officer, refusing to give any further details of the investigation.
RR bats for boy
Sources confirm that Home Minister R.R. Patil referred to the case in the house and appealed to the commissioner that the case must be cracked at the earliest. “It was the intervention of Patil that brought the dog-squad and Crime Branch into action. Otherwise, it would have gone like any other
abduction case,” added a senior IPS officer.