Bhubaneswar toddler rescued from Balasore after kidnapping near Ram Mandir

Bhubaneswar, April 15: In a swift response, the Commissionerate Police successfully rescued a 2-year-old boy who was abducted from the arms of his visually-impaired mother near Ram Mandir in Bhubaneswar on Saturday night. The child was found in a house in the Khantapada area of Balasore district, while the kidnapper, Kedarsan Panda, was apprehended in Puri.

The breakthrough came just 48 hours after Bhubaneswar’s DCP Jagmohan Meena revealed that multiple teams were working tirelessly to locate the missing child, with suspicions initially pointing towards the possibility of organ trafficking.

The police tracked the abductor by reviewing CCTV footage from various railway stations and gathering clues. The Railway Protection Force, West Bengal Police, and local Balasore Police assisted in the investigation, with raids conducted at various locations. It was revealed that Kedarsan Panda, who had premeditated the crime, was caught on camera near the temple with the child before taking a train to Balasore, where he handed over the child to Jhelam Rani Panda.

Jhelam, who had recently met Kedarsan, allegedly sought to adopt a male child due to her own son’s serious illness. Her motives are under investigation.

The kidnapping occurred when Jayanti Mallick, the mother, was resting with her children on the pavement near the temple due to rain. A man offered her baby juice and a mobile phone, but the baby was later discovered missing.

Jayanti has expressed immense gratitude to the police for successfully rescuing her son.