Chandnagar Police Nabs 4-Member Child Kidnap Gang, 6 Children Rescued
The gang’s misdeeds came to light when the police received a complaint from a woman stating that her four-year-old son Akhil went missing from their residence in Lingampally
Hyderabad: The Chandanagar police on Monday nabbed a four-member child kidnap gang, which is committing offences for the last five years in Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Sangareddy districts.
The arrested have been identified as Chilukuri Raju, an ayurvedic medicine practitioner and Mohammed Asif, a vegetable vendor, both residents of Sangareddy district, Rizwana, who runs a nursing clinic and resident of Siddipet and Narasimha Reddy, a mason and resident of Moosapet. The police recovered Rs.5 lakh from the possession of the arrested persons.
The gang’s misdeeds came to light when the police received a complaint from a woman stating that her four-year-old son Akhil went missing from their hut near Pochamma temple in Lingampally, on August 26, 2025, while she had gone to the hospital.
Despite searching locally, the boy could not be traced. Based on the complaint, a case was registered, and special teams were formed to investigate. With the help of surveillance cameras footage, the police first nabbed the prime accused Raju and with his help the three others were also nabbed.
Madhapur Deputy Commissioner of Police, Dr. Veneeth G, said Raju would identify the children who were up to the age group of five years in and around railway stations and other places. After watching for a few days, he would kidnap the boys and sell them through his associates Asif and Rizwana to childless parents and enchased depending upon their financial status.
Four years ago, Raju kidnapped a baby girl from Kachiguda railway station and sold her for Rs.42,000. Since then, he continued similar offences with associates. Asif partnered with Raju to supply kidnapped babies to childless parents through Rizwana, who requested to arrange babies. Raju’s friend Narsimha Reddy assisted in kidnapping Akhil from Lingampally.
In the process of identifying and securing babies, Raju used to move near Kachiguda and Lingampally and kidnapped children in association with Asif and Rizwana. They would then sell the babies to childless parents on payment basis.
One the accused in the case - Balaraju of Patancheru was absconding in the case. He allegedly sold his two babies aged three days and one day to the needy parents after collecting money through Asif in two years. The police rescued half a dozen children Akhil (5), Arun (2), Ammulu (eight months), Lasya (5) and Adivik (2).
The police are yet to identify the parents of Ammulu and Lasya. The parents of Adivik, Priya, Akhil and Arun have been identified. Preliminary inquiries revealed that the gang sold the children at a price ranging from Rs.2 lakh to Rs.7 lakh.
As parents purchased children illegally, the police are exploring the possibility of including their names in the case after eliciting legal opinion.
