Latest news with #VedikaBheel
Time of India
28-05-2025
- Time of India
Missing 4-yr-old rescued from kidnapper in Ahmedabad, reunited with mom
Ahmedabad: A four-year-old girl who went missing from the Law Garden area four days ago was traced by the city crime branch on Tuesday. She was found in the Sabarmati area, in the custody of a woman who allegedly abducted her to sell her off or hand her over to the begging mafia. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The girl, Vedika Bheel, daughter of Aarti Bheel, went missing on Saturday evening while playing in the Law Garden area. Her mother sells water bottles near the garden. Despite a search and a police complaint filed with Navrangpura police, her whereabouts remained unknown for several days. The accused was identified as Nikita Dantani, 35, a pavement dweller from Raikhad. She was allegedly roaming around the city on a lookout for vulnerable children when she spotted Vedika. The breakthrough in the case came when a 70-member team from the city crime branch intensified their efforts under an ongoing drive to trace missing children. The woman who abducted Vedika cut her hair to prevent identification. Officers said she planned to sell the girl to a childless couple or hand her over to the begging mafia. The girl was rescued safely and reunited with her parents. Her medical condition is reported to be stable. According to crime branch officials, the rescue is part of a broader operation. Over the last nine months, the city crime branch rescued more than 100 children and registered over 48 offences. Anti-begging drives and active surveillance by specialized units such as the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) and Investigative Units for Crimes Against Women (IUCAW) contributed to the detection, sources said. "This case was a continuation of our ongoing operation. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The team gained experience in identifying such patterns and knowing where to search," said an officer. The initial investigation faced hurdles due to non-functional CCTV cameras at Law Garden and along CG Road. The equipment, installed under the Smart City project, failed to capture any footage, leaving police with limited leads in the first 48 hours. Despite the challenges, the case saw a breakthrough due to systematic fieldwork and coordination by the crime branch.
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Time of India
Camera shy? Pvt cos fail on surveillance device upkeep in Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad: Police have been unable to make any breakthrough in the suspected abduction of four-year-old Vedika Bheel from Law Garden on Saturday evening. Investigations, however, have revealed a major blind spot. All eight CCTV cameras installed inside Law Garden are defunct, highlighting Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's (AMC) oversight. What makes the problem even more complex is that development and maintenance of gardens in different areas of the city, including CCTV cameras, has been assigned to private companies under a public-private-partnership (PPP) model. These parks include Parimal Garden in Ambawadi, Sardar Baug at Lal Darwaza, and Tilak Baug in Jamalpur. An AMC official, speaking anonymously, said the company contracted to maintain the cameras at Law Garden failed in this task. Similarly, Parimal Garden too lacks CCTV surveillance. Sources indicate that nine years ago, AMC-managed Ahmedabad Smart City Company planned setting up infrastructure under the Safe and Secure Ahmedabad (SASA) initiative, including 6,500 CCTV cameras and a command control centre, at a cost of Rs 239 crore. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 2025: Steel Suppliers From Mexico At Lowest Prices (Take A Look) Steel Suppliers | search ads Search Now Undo These included systems at traffic junctions and at AMC's offices, schools, civic centres, and other govt buildings. In 2018-19, 242 CCTV were installed at 17 traffic signals, 1,170 were set up at 75 signals in 2019-20, and 587 at 38 signals in 2020-21 at a total cost of Rs 16.20 crore. No new cameras have been installed at any signal from 2021-22 to 2023-24. Of the 1,999 installed, 1,749 are operational, though an average of five percent are non-functional. Sources further said that AMC installed 2,471 CCTV cameras at its offices, schools, civic centres and its parks and lakes of which 475 are defunct. As many as 191 cameras are not connected to the control centres, 161 have maintenance issues and 123 have no power connections. Sixteen cameras were installed at Vastrapur lake in 2016-17, but all were dismantled.
