Rourkela: Police on Thursday arrested four persons including three women on charges of kidnapping a five-year-old boy from Rourkela railway station area.
The cops have reportedly rescued the boy from Medinipur area of the neighbouring West Bengal.
As per reports, the accused had abducted the boy from the railway station area on December 4. Later, they sold him to a woman at Medinipur for Rs 1 lakh.
Following a complaint, police launched a manhunt and managed to arrest the three kidnappers and the woman who had bought the minor.
Meanwhile, police have reportedly handed over the boy to the Child Welfare Committee.
As per the NCRB data, the total kidnapping and abduction figures in the State stood at a massive 4,604. Children going missing in Odisha stood at a staggering 3,151 in 2019, and if around 2352 untraced children from last year are to be added to the list, the total number of missing children in the State at the beginning of 2020 would go up to 5,503.
The State has an abysmal tracing rate to show. Only 1,490 missing children had been traced so far, which comes around 27 per cent, the lowest in the country.