Step-grandmon denies hand in Rihan's disappearance

BANGALORE: The case of the missing 3-year-old Rihan from his Madiwala home took a curious turn when the prime suspect, his step-grandmother Noorjahan, told the police she didn't know his whereabouts.
On Friday afternoon, Madiwala police took Noorjahan into their custody from her house in Neelasandra. During interrogation, she repeatedly said the boy was not with her and she was being framed.
"Ever since we took her into custody, she hasn't said anything about the boy's whereabouts.She kept saying she's innocent and she has no hand in his going missing," said inspector LM Purushotham.
Noorjahan told police her husband was trying to trap her to take revenge on her and she'd fled the house in fear. Madiwala police said for the past two days, she has been shuttling between her daughter's home and relative's house in Wilson Garden and a few other places in the city. She had hired a lawyer as well.
Police and the fire force earlier ruled out the possibility of the boy drowning in the canal. They searched it for more than 12 hours on Friday but couldn't find anything. With the step-grandmother protesting her innocence, the question still remains: Where is Rihan?
What happened
On Tuesday, Rihan went missing around 4pm. Following a suspicion that he may have drowned in a canal near his house, a search operation was laucnhed by the fire force. On Wednesday, the boy's grandfather Shaukath Ali alleged his second wife Noorjahan had kidnapped the boy. She was not to be found at her house and had also switched off her mobile phone. Late Friday evening, the search operation was called off.