The Delhi Police has arrested a couple for allegedly kidnapping a 45-day-old boy from Safdarjung hospital, officers said on Sunday, adding that they are probing whether the two are a part of a baby-selling racket.
Additional deputy commissioner of police (south west) Akanksha Yadav identified the accused as Mahi Singh, 24 and Rahit Kumar, 32, both originally from Uttar Pradesh. Police said the two were arrested from a train in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh late on Friday night.
Giving details of the case, investigators said on Friday, the police control room received a call at 3pm about a woman fleeing with an infant. When a police team reached the hospital, a 22-year-old woman told them that her husband was admitted for treatment, and she had left the baby in care of her 60-year-old mother. At this point, the 22-year-old said, another woman approached her mother, gained her confidence, took the infant in her lap, and then fled.
Based on the complaint, a case on charges of punishment for kidnapping was registered, and an investigation was taken up.
During the probe, police scanned CCTV from inside and outside the hospital, and found footage of the woman with the baby, along with a man, leaving the hospital in an autorickshaw. She was wearing a salwar suit at the time of kidnapping, police said.
“The autorickshaw was traced, and the driver told police that the couple initially asked to be dropped off at Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station, but later said they wanted to go to Anand Vihar railway station,” ADCP Yadav said.
CCTV footage from Anand Vihar was then checked, and the suspects were seen boarding the Sadbhavna Express, which operates between Anand Vihar and Raxaul in Bihar. “Government Railway Police, Railway Police Force, the train’s TTE, and local police were informed, and the train was stopped at Shahjahanpur,” Yadav said.
All the coaches in the train were then searched, and the couple was apprehended from the train at 11pm the same day.
“During interrogation, it was revealed that the couple had been scouting for an infant for the last few days and had visited temples, gurdwaras, hospitals, and other public places where they could find a baby and flee,” the ADCP said.
Police said that they’re yet to ascertain the motive behind the kidnapping. “We are looking at all angles, but the way the kidnapping was carried out, it appears that there may be a gang selling babies at play,” a senior police officer said.
Leave a Reply