Rajahmundry: East Godavari district police have formed eight teams and launched a massive search operation to trace a four year-old boy, Jasith, who was kidnapped from Mandapeta town in East Godavari district on Monday night.

Jasith was abducted from his house after an unidentified person hit the boy’s grandmother Parvathamma and fled with boy on a motor bike in the cover of darkness, as there was no electricity at that point of time. Even as she and some people tired to chase the kidnapper, they failed to catch him.

The police have formed eight teams under the supervision of Ramachandrapuram DSP GV Santhosh Kumar. It is learnt that the police have been questioning persons from Srikakulam and Mandapeta in connection with this case. Cops have confirmed that two persons were involved in the incident. Based on information from some unidentified people the police are also checking Pottilanka and surrounding areas of Mandapeta.

As there was no call from the kidnappers the police are yet to make any headway in the case. The boy's parents are worried about the safety of their child and have appealed to the kidnappers not to hurt the boy.

East Godavari SP Nayeem Asmi said that they were taking this incident seriously and have already launched a massive hunt to nab the kidnappers. The police are suspecting it to be a planned abduction.

Based on a CC TV footage recovered on July 3, two unidentified men came to the boy's neighbouring house and checked the house where he was playing. The man had a kerchief tied to his face and there was one more man waiting on bike that had no number plate. They asked the lady whether there was any house for rent and when she replied no, he left immediately.

Based on this police believe that the culprits might have conducted a recce before kidnapping the boy. He also recalled that Jasith's father Venkataramana's bike was stolen last month.

Venkataramana had also told the police that he had worked in Devarapalli in West Godavari district. During his tenure there, he had helped the police in getting a man arrested who had tried to mortgage fake gold with the bank. The police are also examining this angle if this could have led to an enmity by the person who was charged with fraud.

Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for revenue, stamps, and registration Pilli Subhash Chandrabose called the parents on the phone and assured all cooperation by the police in tracing the boy. He conducted a review with police team and directed them to speed up search operations

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