Hyderabad: Police solved the kidnap of a seven-month-old boy using CCTV footage. The boy was abducted by a man who lured the boy’s parents promising to sell them an LPG cylinder. The Balanagar police who investigated the case rescued the boy and handed him over to his mother. Police said the accused had sold the boy to a childless couple from West Godavari district for Rs 1 lakh. The kidnapper, the couple and three others who mediated the deal were arrested and remanded.

DCP Madhapur P. Vishwa Prasad said the gang’s kingpin A. Gopi Krishna, 36, planned the kidnap after West Godavari natives N. Raju and N. Lakshmi, approached him through the couple D. Ravi and D. Renuka. One B. Amruth coordinated the operation. Ravi was a close friend of Gopikrishna and Amruth. Knowing that he and his wife were desperate to adopt a boy, they planned to kidnap a child and sell him to them. With this idea in mind Gopikrishna established links with gas cylinder delivery men and struck a deal with them for illegal supply of cylinders.

Claiming that he supplies gas to people who did not have ID proofs, he moved around in Jeedimetla and identified the target boy. He approached the boy’s parents Radhika and Bheemesh and offered them a gas cylinder. He watched their movements for a week and showed the child to Ravi. After Ravi gave go ahead Gopikrishna went to the victim’s house last Wednesday but could not succeed.

On Thursday, Gopikrishna called Bheemesh and asked him to arrange money for the cylinder. But Bheemesh told to collect it from his wife. As Radhika was going to temple he went with her to the temple. “When she went into the temple to wash her hands after having prasadam he took the boy and fled,” the DCP said. Police set up six teams, nabbed the six and recovered the Rs 1 lakh.