Sasidharan, a Writer at the Government Hospital police station in Chennai, found it hard to contain his curiosity as he prepared a note to aid the legal department in opposing the bail application of a woman named Aiswarya, one of the people accused in a child abduction case.
Aiswarya and four others had been arrested on September 18, in relation to the abduction of a child from the Egmore Children’s Hospital. During the course of their investigation, police officials further discovered that the five were also allegedly involved in at least one other case of child abduction in Chennai.
The work of preparing the note itself was routine, something Sasidharan had done for innumerable cases before. What drove Sasidharan’s curiosity was that Aiswarya had said in her confession statement to the police that she had no family members or relatives to rely on.
So, Sasidharan and other officials wondered, who was behind the bail plea filed on Aiswarya’s behalf? Their curiosity was further aroused by the fact that the accused’s lawyers refused to provide details on who the person or persons behind the bail plea were.
The bail plea, according to the police officials, indicates the existence of a well-funded network behind those accused of child abduction, which is ready to splurge money to get them out on bail. Some investigating officials are of a strong view that all the five accused arrested on September 18 had given false statements to forestall any investigations into a larger network behind them. All five people, sources say, claimed to have been involved in the abductions for varying personal compulsions, and denied any larger racket or trail of persons involved in the case.