Mumbai: Boy kidnapped from JJ Hospital, cops find him in 7 hours

Four-year-old abducted by woman, her teenaged son from a hospital; police suspect she is part of a child-lifting gang

Thanks to the Mumbai police, a kidnapped four-year-old boy was reunited with his mother within a few hours on Friday. He had been kidnapped from the JJ Hospital by a woman and her teenaged son. The woman, Shabnam Shaikh, was arrested.

A 35-year-old Dongri resident, Poonam Yadav, had gone to the hospital on Friday for a tuberculosis check-up, at 9.15 am. She had taken along her four-year-old son, Kamlesh.

Teen asked to pick up boy

"The mother was standing in a queue while her son was playing nearby. Shaikh, who was sitting at a distance, had noticed the child was unattended. After a while, she stood in front of Yadav, so she couldn’t see Kamlesh. Shaikh gestured to her 15-year-old son to run with the boy. The teen picked up the boy around 10.30 am and took a local train to Reay Road station. Shaikh then hired a taxi and reached Darukhana slum at Reay Road where they stay," said a police officer from JJ Marg police station.

At the hospital, Yadav panicked when she couldn’t find Kamlesh. She went to the JJ Marg police station 2 pm and lodged a kidnapping case.

Zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police Sangramsinh Nishandar formed four teams of officers, including PSI Rajendra Ghevdekar, PSI Annasaheb Gadekar, Assistant Police Inspector Archana Sutar, to find the boy. Senior Inspector Sanjeev Bhole was asked to monitor the case.

CCTV footage shows crime

The teams scanned CCTV footage in JJ hospital’s premises. "In the CCTV footage, he was seen being picked up by a teen who ran away. Soon a woman followed them. We scanned all CCTV cameras installed along the route the duo took," the police officer said.

After scanning through 30 CCTV footages, the investigating teams reached Darukhana. "We showed the grabs from the CCTV footages of the duo to local residents, who helped us find the kidnappers’ house by 5.30pm," the officer said.

"We have arrested Shaikh and her teenaged son will be sent to a remand home," said Senior Inspector Bhole.

Part of child-lifting gang?

Shaikh also has two daughters. The police said she told them that she kidnapped the boy because she wanted another child. But the police suspect that she is part of a child-lifting gang currently operating in the city. Shaikh will be produced in a court on Saturday where police will seek her custody for further investigation.

10.30am
When the boy was kidnapped

5.30pm
When the police reached the kidnapper’s house

Also Read: Mumbai Crime: Girl bites into kidnapper's palm, escapes in Nalasopara

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