The probe into the kidnap of a six-year-old girl for selling in Tamil Nadu took a twist with one of the two accused claiming that he took the girl to Palakkad to raise her as his own daughter.
In the shocking incident last week, the class 1 student of a corporation school was kidnapped and taken to Kerala where the local police rescued her.
The accused, Selvam, 32, a hotel staff, now under police custody, claimed that he was feeling lonely after his wife and child got separated from him a few years ago. Selvam claimed he and his accomplice, Subramaniam, 32, kidnapped the girl to settle down in Palakkad and raise her, an officer said.
Cops are now bemused over this confession, which is in complete contrast to his earlier version of abduction for gain. The two culprits, soon after arrest, had told the police that they abducted the child to sell her off to a woman pimp in Palakkad. Subramaniam and Selvam lured the child Vinodini (name changed), a student of the corporation school in Saibaba colony, with chocolate.
They took the child by train to Palakkad, where the public, on suspicion, informed the police. The cops caught the two and later handed them over to the Coimbatore city police. They had revealed that they had abducted several girl children from western Tamil Nadu and sold them to members of their network for money.
“We found that their claims were false. Initially, we believed them to be a part of a larger network involved in kidnapping children, however, that is not so,” said a cop, who added that the accused statements were inconsistent.