Snatched From Mother's Lap, Rescued in 72 Hours: Hyderabad Infant Reunited with Family as Police Bust Child Trafficking Gang, 5 Arrested

New Delhi: In a major breakthrough, Hyderabad police rescued a one-month-old baby girl who was abducted from her sleeping mother's lap near Lingampally Railway Station and arrested five members of an inter-state kidnapping gang allegedly involved in trafficking infants. 

The child was safely reunited with her mother within three days of the kidnapping.

According to police, the infant's mother, Malan Bourav Shantha Bai, a circus worker, lodged a complaint with the Chandanagar Police stating that the family was sleeping on the pavement near the boundary wall of Lingampally Railway Station along with members of their circus troupe when the kidnapping took place.

At around 2 am on June 30, unidentified men arrived in an auto-rickshaw and forcibly snatched the one-month-old baby girl from her mother's lap before fleeing the scene.

Based on the complaint, police registered a case and launched an intensive investigation.

₹1.5 Lakh Paid for Illegal Sale

During the probe, investigators uncovered a conspiracy to kidnap and sell the infant.

Police said the plot began after Rehnuma Ali, a resident of Kolkata, allegedly expressed her desire to adopt a baby.

Acting on this, one of the accused, Zubair, contacted his associate Irfan, an auto-rickshaw driver with a previous criminal record, and the duo conspired to kidnap an infant and sell the child for financial gain.

While scouting for a target, they spotted the complainant and her newborn sleeping outside Lingampally Railway Station.

Further, police said the accused hired an auto-rickshaw belonging to their associate Arif before carrying out the kidnapping.

After abducting the baby, the accused allegedly took the infant to the house of Naziya and informed Seema and Rehnuma Ali that the kidnapping had been successfully executed.

On July 1, Rehnuma Ali allegedly flew from Kolkata to Hyderabad along with her aunt Sarvari to take custody of the kidnapped child.

Investigators also revealed that Zubair allegedly received ₹1.5 lakh through an online transaction from Rehnuma Ali as payment for the illegal sale of the infant.

Before the accused could leave Hyderabad with the child, police tracked down the gang and arrested all five accused. The one-month-old baby girl was rescued safely and reunited with her biological mother.

Police said further investigation is underway to ascertain whether the gang was involved in similar cases of child trafficking across states.

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