Thane, Jan 8 (PTI) A man and his female companion have been arrested on charges of kidnapping two minor sisters in Thane city of Maharashtra, police said on Friday.

Senior inspector D S Dhole of the Wagle Estate police station said the woman is an aunt of the girls who were rescued unharmed.

He said the siblings, aged 5 and 6 years, were playing near their house on Wednesday when the woman picked them up and fled.

She along with her male partner took them to Kalher near Bhiwandi town, Dhole said.

The girls' parents lodged a complaint after which the police launched a search for the minors.

The police scanned at least half-a-dozen CCTV footages to trace and arrest the accused, Sufian Shaikh, 23, and Anil Gamble, 27, who have been booked under IPC section 363 (kidnapping), the inspector said.

The motive behind the kidnapping was not yet known and a probe was on, he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)