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Five cases that you will never forget from Arita Sarkar’s Kidnapped

In 2016, approximately ten people were abducted every hour in India. Of them, six were children.

Kidnapped by Arita Sarkar brings to life investigations by the police, eyewitness accounts and the perspectives of the accused, recreating each case in painstaking detail. Some of the victims you read about will never come home, but their stories will stay with you.

Read on to know about 5 kidnapping cases that you will never forget:

Case 1: Tarannum Fatema (3 year old) 

Tarannum Fatema’s disappearance baffled the police as there were no significant clues. The police officer working on the case remembered it as one of the goriest he had seen in his career.

“He lured the girl into his flat by promising her chocolates. Once inside, he used chloroform, which he had apparently stolen from his college, to render her unconscious. ‘When her sister and mother came to look for her, [redacted] panicked and strangled her with the wire of his mobile charger’ ”

~

Case 2: Ritesh(7 year old) and Mukta(11 year old) Jain

The story of Ritesh and Mukta Jain is one that most parents in Coimbatore are familiar with. Their brutal murder has made people more cautious and watchful of their children’s movements.

“Though cases of kidnapping are fairly common in Coimbatore, the police claim that this case, where the kidnappers were faced with charges of kidnapping, rape and murder, was the first of its kind.”

~

Case 3: Franshela Vaz (8 year old)

While most kidnappings in India are motivated by money, Franshela’s was different.T he kidnapper had never intended to demand a ransom. Driven by anger, he had always wanted to kill her, according to the police.

” ‘The man who murdered my daughter slept in the drawing room of my house. He had no shame at all. Even after killing her, he had the audacity to come and live in our house and pretend to look for her as well.’ ”

~

Case 4: Adit Ranka (13 year old)

In tough times, the support of one’s family is something most people rely on. In Chandrika’s case, however, her fight to get justice for her son pitted her against other members of her rather close-knit family.

“Since the case involves her close relatives, Chandrika didn’t wish to appeal against the verdict. But she did pin her hopes on the state government who she thought would appeal against the order given by the sessions court. Neither the police nor the prosecution, however, felt the same.”

~

Case 5: Anant Gupta (3 year old)

The kidnappers themselves never explained why they chose Anant and maintained that he was a random target.

“The police investigation found that Chhatrapal, the mastermind, was inspired by various movies. The police described Chhatrapal as an ‘overambitious person’ who had acted in a telefilm and wanted to try his hand at movies.”


Kidnapped documents ten cases of child abduction from across the country, Arita Sarkar investigates the bone-chilling details of the disappearance of each child. AVAILABLE NOW!

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