Hubballi: Dharwad police have rescued an eleven-day old baby girl, who was stolen from Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) here on Monday. They have arrested Surekha (28), a housemaid hailing from Pavanapur village of Davangere district.
The parents were relieved after police officials handed them over their daughter. The baby was abducted by the woman posing as a nurse. The police officials also said that the culprit had introduced herself as nurse to the mother of the baby by visiting hospital 3-4 days ago to win their trust. On a tip-off from neighbours, the police officials conducted raid on a house in Laxmisinganakere in Dharwad, where the woman was working. During preliminary investigation, the woman revealed that she was desperate to have a baby after miscarriage last month.
Vidyanagar station police inspector B.N. Hullannavar said that the police was also investigating whether any child trafficking gang was involved. “The culprit does not have children. However, we are conducting a thorough probe into the possibility of involvement of child trafficking racket. Such incidents were reported in the hospital during last few years. We are also interrogating her relatives and others to find out whether they were linked to any gangs involved in abducting babies and selling them to childless couple for a hefty amount,” he said.
The police had sifted through the footage of all 70 CCTV cameras installed at various locations in the hospital before cracking the case. The citizens and various organisations have condemned the negligence of the KIMS authorites for for their lapses in allowing the unidentified woman to enter into the hospital by posing as nurse.
