4-year-old Girl Allegedly Kidnapped, Rescued Within Hours
At around 2.30 am, the parents woke up and noticed that their daughter was missing. They immediately approached the police and lodged a complaint.
A four-year-old girl, who went missing from near the Visakhapatnam railway station and was later suspected to have been kidnapped, was rescued within hours by police on Friday. The girl was found at S. Rayavaram in Anakapalle district and reunited with her parents.
The girl had arrived in Visakhapatnam from Vijayawada on August 23 along with her parents, Abdul Hafiz Gani and Syed Seshamma, to meet her brother, who is staying at a child welfare centre in the city. The family was doing small jobs at various locations and sleeping on the footpath near the railway station.
On Thursday night, the family slept on the footpath. At around 1.40 am on Friday, Abdul Hafiz Gani woke up and found his daughter missing. After searching for her and failing to trace her, the couple approached Railway Protection Force personnel at the railway station.
II-Town police examined CCTV footage from the area, which reportedly showed two persons arriving on a scooter and taking the girl away. Police identified them as K. Upendra, a native of Garividi in Vizianagaram district, and Anna Devara Pratibha Rao, a resident of S. Rayavaram.
Special teams were formed to trace the girl and apprehend the suspects. Police said the girl was abandoned at S. Rayavaram on Friday morning after the suspects allegedly became aware of the police search. She was subsequently rescued and reunited with her parents.
East Division ACP K. Laxmana Murthy said the suspects would be arrested soon.
Most-wanted red sanders smuggler held near Chittoor
The Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF) arrested an interstate red sanders smuggler, who was allegedly wanted in more than 44 cases, along with another accused near Chittoor on Friday.
The task force seized seven red sanders logs, a car and a motorcycle during a vehicle check near an underbridge on the Chittoor-Vellore Road at Panaturu in Gudipala mandal.
Acting on specific information, the RSASTF, with assistance from the state intelligence department and forest staff, intercepted a Hyundai Venue allegedly being used to transport the logs. The two men in the vehicle were taken into custody and identified as M. Tanji, 35, of Vellore district in Tamil Nadu, and Selvam, 45, of Tiruvannamalai district.
Task Force officials said Tanji was wanted in more than 44 red sanders smuggling cases registered in Chittoor, Tirupati and Annamayya districts and had allegedly been evading arrest.
The accused were allegedly part of a network involved in arranging the felling and transportation of red sanders from the Seshachalam Reserve Forest. The logs were allegedly meant to be supplied to smugglers operating from Bengaluru, Chennai and other places.
The RSASTF said further investigation was under way to identify and arrest other members of the network, including key operators in Bengaluru and Chennai. Special teams have been formed for the investigation.
RSASTF head L. Subba Rayudu appreciated the personnel involved in the operation and announced rewards for them.
Treasury employee held in ACB trap for taking ₹`30,000 bribe
Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials arrested Narava Vijaya Bhaskar, a senior accountant at the Divisional Sub-Treasury Office in Narsipatnam, for allegedly demanding and accepting a ₹`30,000 bribe from a retired tahsildar for an official favour.
According to the ACB, Bhaskar initially demanded `40,000 from Parvatham Srinivasa Rao, a resident of Yelamanchili, for processing his pending increments arrears bills for 2023, 2024 and 2025, besides his ensuing earned leave (EL) bill.
Rao, unwilling to pay the bribe, approached the ACB. Following verification of the complaint, officials laid a trap after Bhaskar agreed to reduce the demand to `30,000.
The ACB team caught Bhaskar red-handed while he was allegedly accepting the bribe from Rao at Narsipatnam on Friday. Further proceedings are under way.
