A six-month-old girl was allegedly kidnapped for ransom and later killed in Walsawnagi village in Bhokardan tehsil of the district, police said today.
According to police, a daughter of the deceased girl's neighbour, who was playing with her, was also kidnapped.
"Payal was the daughter of a medical officer of the Primary Health Centre at Walsawnagi village, Dr Anil Waghmare. She was abducted along with her neighbour's daughter Laxmi Ganesh Sonowane, around 11 am when they were playing outside their place," a police official said.
After about an hour, a woman, who introduced herself as Shewale, called Payal's mother Reshma and told her that she had kidnapped her daughter and demanded a ransom of Rs 1.50 lakh, saying she needed money for her son's eye operation.
The kidnapper also threatened that if her demand was not met, Payal would be killed, police said.
Shocked to know that her daughter had been kidnapped Reshma started looking for her. She informed nearby residents, who also joined the hunt.
However, two hours later, villagers found Payal's body inside a bathroom of a gram panchayat member's house.
Police were alerted and the body was sent for post-mortem.
Search is on to trace the kidnapper and the abducted girl, police said.
