MANHUNT ON FOR NATIONAL HERO ABDUCTED IN MAHARASHTRA

Police have launched a manhunt for a national bravery award winner from Maharashtra — honoured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who has been kidnapped with his sibling from their home here, police said on Saturday.

Investigating officer Vandana Sonawane said a special team had been set up to locate braveheart Nilesh and his sibling Ganpat .

All police stations in the city and surrounding areas have been told to keep a lookout for the two minors.

“We have published appeals to the public in the media, put up posters with photos of both the boys at public places, markets, bus and railway stations, and our policemen are fanning out to track them,” said Sonawane.

Police went into a tizzy after the boys’ parents, Revaram Bhil and Sundarbai, reached the police station on Friday night.

The father said their two minor sons were missing since Tuesday and Thursday respectively and may have been kidnapped by unknown persons, Sonawane said.

On Tuesday, the parents, both working as labourers, reached home from work and their three sons were playing at home. They realised something was amiss when their eldest son Nilesh went missing. They launched a search for him.

“The parents enquired with all their relatives, friends and Nilesh’s friends but got no clues. The following day, after they returned home from a full day hunt for Nilesh, they learnt that even seven-year-old Ganpat had gone missing,” Sonawane said.

After exhausting all avenues, the worried parents approached police for help on Friday.

Nilesh, 12, received the National Bravery Award in January 2016 for saving a village boy from drowning in a water tank.

The motive behind the suspected double kidnapping is not clear.