HYDERABAD: The Afzalgunj police rescued an infant who was kidnapped from her mother’s side and arrested the kidnappers, a woman and her relative, on Friday. The two-month-old child and her mother Swathi were sleeping on a footpath at the Osmania General Hospital.
Police said the kidnappers, Jyothi, 30, of Maharashtra and her relative Vikas Kumar, 18, of Jharkhand, were planning to sell the child. Police traced them using CCTV camera footage and other evidence.
Police said Swathi and her baby who were residing on the footpath for around two weeks were shifted to a care home in Secunderabad a week ago. After a couple of days, she returned to the footpath with the baby.
Afzalgunj station house officer M. Ravindar Reddy said that the child was now being handed over to the Childline of the Women and child welfare department and Swathi would be admitted to a care home.
According to police, the accused, who were also homeless, came to OGH around a week ago and got acquainted with Swathi. On Thursday, around 9 am, Swathi fed the child and went to sleep. When she woke up after an hour, the child and the accused were missing. When they did not return even by evening, she filed a report with the police at around 6 pm.
Police registered a kidnap case and formed special teams to trace the baby. CCTV footage showed the accused taking the child towards Falaknuma. Teams were sent to the area and the footage was circulated.
The police found that the duo had gone to a toddy compound near Falaknuma. The workers there identified the accused and the child and told the police that the child was crying badly.
On Friday morning, railway police at the Uppuguda station found the accused moving in a suspicious manner with the child and alerted the Afzalgunj police, who rushed to the spot along with Swathi and nabbed them.
