Kidnapped Infant Sold For Rs 1.5 Lakh Rescued In Hyderabad, 5 Arrested

Cyberabad Police have rescued a one-month-old baby girl and arrested five members of an interstate child trafficking racket within three days of her kidnapping from outside a railway station.

The infant was kidnapped around 2 am on June 30 while her mother, 25-year-old Malan Bourav Shantha Bai, a circus worker from Karnataka's Bidar district, was asleep on the pavement outside the Lingampally Railway Station with members of her circus troupe. She woke up to the baby's cries and saw two men fleeing in an autorickshaw with the child. Despite chasing them, she could not stop the kidnappers.

Based on her complaint, police registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Juvenile Justice Act.

''Three special teams were formed, and investigators examined hundreds of CCTV cameras across Cyberabad, Hyderabad and Malkajgiri, tracked the suspects' movements and cracked the case within 72 hours," said Cyberabad Commissioner of Police M Ramesh.

Police arrested Mohammed Zuber of Vikarabad and Mohammed Irfan, an autorickshaw driver with a previous theft case, for carrying out the kidnapping.

The investigation revealed that the duo had conspired to kidnap a newborn in exchange for money after being approached by Saadequa Maqsood alias Naziya, a resident of Neredmet.

"The conspiracy began when Rehnuma Ali, a 30-year-old woman from Kolkata who had no children, allegedly sought to procure a baby illegally,'' said Ramesh. 

According to investigators, she reportedly approached her aunt Nimmi Jahan Ali alias Seema Ali, who lives in Hyderabad. Seema then contacted her friend Naziya, who in turn enlisted her fiancé Zuber to arrange a newborn for payment.

While scouting for a target, Zuber and Irfan allegedly spotted the complainant sleeping with her infant outside Lingampally Railway Station.

''In the early hours of June 30, they hired an autorickshaw belonging to an acquaintance, reached the spot and allegedly snatched the one-month-old girl from her mother's lap before taking her to Naziya's house,'' said the investigators.

Police said Rehnuma Ali flew from Kolkata to Hyderabad on July 1, accompanied by her aunt, to take custody of the kidnapped infant.

During the investigation, officers found that Rs 1.5 lakh had been transferred online to Zuber as payment for the illegal sale of the baby. Before the accused could leave Hyderabad with the child, police tracked them down, arrested all five accused and rescued the infant safely.

The baby was then reunited with her biological mother.