Four arrested for abducting, selling 10-month-old

The Mumbai Police on Friday arrested four people, including a woman, for allegedly abducting a 10-month-old baby and selling it to a couple for ₹1

The Mumbai Police on Friday arrested four people, including a woman, for allegedly abducting a 10-month-old baby and selling it to a couple for ₹1.50 lakh.

Image for representation. (File photo)

They said a pavement dweller identified as Mumtaz Khan, 40, approached them on Wednesday, complaining that her son was abducted by someone while they were asleep.

During the probe, Khan told police that for days, a woman and her daughter had been coming to the causeway where they lived to distribute alms.

The police got their description and started searching for the woman and her daughter. They eventually succeeded in tracing the woman, Farhana Shaikh, 33.

On questioning, Shaikh told police she abducted the child and sold it to Paramdam Gundeti for ₹1.50 lakh. When the police detained Gundeti and questioned him, he told the police that he had sold the baby to two people named Nakka Narsingh, 35, and Rajarao Dharmarao, 50, in Telangana.

The police then arrested all four and seized ₹35,000 in cash from Shaikh.

“We suspect that this is a larger child trafficking racket. We are investigating to find out whether Shaikh has stolen any more babies...in the past,” said Manohar Dhanavade, a senior police inspector of Bandra police station.

The police rescued the child and handed him over to his mother on Friday.