$30,000 reward offered for information on missing Indian baby Saanvi Venna

October 25, 2012

King of Prussia, October 25: The local police and the Telugu community have announced a $30,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of 10-month-old baby Saanvi Venna, who has been missing from her parents' apartment in the US state of Pennsylvania since Monday. Her paternal grandmother, who was baby-sitting her, was found murdered in the apartment. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has joined the massive search for the baby.

Investigators believe Saanvi was abducted between 8 am and 1 pm local time on Monday from the family's apartment in King of Prussia, a Philadelphia suburb. The baby's grandmother, 61-year-old Satyavathi Venna, had arrived from Andhra Pradesh in India in July and was scheduled to return home in January. Investigators would not immediately say how the grandmother was killed or whether there were any suspects. "All of our resources are focused on finding Saanvi and reuniting her with her parents," Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said in an interview. "The search for the child is intricately connected to the homicide investigation", he added.

The FBI is assisting in the investigation, said Frank Burton, a spokesman for the agency's Philadelphia office. The police, who issued an "Amber alert" or child abduction energency alert for the missing baby, have been searching the apartment complex and surrounding areas, apart from announcing the $30,000 reward.

Baby Saanvi's parents, father Venkata Konda Siva Venna, and mother Chenchu Latha Punuru, emigrated to the US from India in February 2007. The couple lived in San Antonio, Cleveland and Troy, Michigan, before moving to the Philadelphia-area apartment complex in June this year.They have made frantic appeals for any information on the baby's whereabouts.

Venkata Konda Siva Venna issued a tearful plea for his baby's return. "If someone finds my baby, could you please bring my baby back?" he was quoted as saying by the Philly Inquirer.

Ram Venna, the child's uncle, who has flown in from his home in San Jose, California, said, "Pleading everyone's help in finding my 10-month-old niece. Please call the police if you have any information that can help in locating Saanvi. All the family is grieving my mother's tragic death and praying for the safe return of my niece Saanvi. I hope we can successfully locate Saanvi."

Madhukar Sanikommu of Warren, New Jersey, a cousin of Saanvi's father, said the family was trying to hold on to hope that the girl would be found. "We're all devastated right now," Sanikommu said.

The Telugu Association of North America (TANA) organised a candle light vigil on Tuesday night in memory of Satyavathi Venna.

Earlier post: Indian woman killed, grand-daughter abducted in US

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In meeting with Zohran Mamdani, Trump repeats claim he stopped India-Pak war

Agencies

November 22,2025

New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has again claimed to have solved the conflict between India and Pakistan, repeating his assertion during a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office.

Mamdani flew to Washington DC for his first meeting with Trump in the White House on Friday. Trump said he “enjoyed” the meeting, which he described as “great.”

During remarks in the Oval Office, with Mamdani standing next to him, Trump repeated his claim that he solved the May conflict between India and Pakistan.

"I did eight peace deals of countries, including India and Pakistan,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump had said he threatened to put 350 per cent tariffs on India and Pakistan if they did not end their conflict, repeating his claim that he solved the fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him to say “we're not going to go to war.”

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Mamdani emerged victorious in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor, becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.

He had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months and defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and was officially endorsed by Trump just hours before the elections.

Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.

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