Bhubaneswar: A four-year-old boy, abducted by a person impersonating as a transgender from Thakurmunda market in Mayurbhanj on Friday, has been safely rescued by a team of transgenders in Jajpur Road. The Kinnar Mahasangh, a transgender association, claimed that the accused does not belong to their group and was impersonating as a transgender to abduct the child.
According to Kajal Kinnar, secretary of the All Odisha Kinnar Mahasangh, the Thakurmunda police IIC informed them about the incident and requested their cooperation. The transgender team searched for the child and received a tip-off about the accused’s plan to shift the child. They immediately rescued the child and handed him over to the police.
“Thakurmunda police IIC called me over the phone and said that a transgender person had stolen a child and was in Jajpur Road. The IIC requested us to cooperate with the investigation. Since last night, we have been searching for the child in various lanes in the town. In the wee hours, we got a tip-off that a man impersonating a transgender person was preparing to shift the child from Jajpur to elsewhere. Our team immediately reached the spot and rescued the child. We also immediately informed the Thakurmunda Police IIC as well as the Jajpur Road police before handing over the child,” Kajal Kinnar said, demanding strict action against the accused who defame the Kinnar Association.
The accused, identified as Lipu Nayak claimed innocence, stating that he took the child as he had lost his mother at Maa Basulei fair and was trying to reunite him with his parents.
However, the police had registered a case and launched an investigation after the boy’s mother, Stiti Patra, filed a complaint. The child was reunited with his parents after being rescued.