One more held in Santacruz kidnapping case

Mumbai: One more person has been arrested in connection with the kidnapping of a one-year-old girl earlier this month

Mumbai: One more person has been arrested in connection with the kidnapping of a one-year-old girl earlier this month.

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The Mumbai police crime branch had on November 2 arrested two accused, Sarifa Shaikh (50) and Sujata Paswan (43), for allegedly kidnapping a child, Fatima, who was sleeping next to her mother on the pavement outside SNDT College in Santacruz.

The third accused has been identified as Gafrunissa Khan (30) of Hyderabad.

According to the police, Khan had asked Shaikh and Paswan to get the child and deliver her to Hyderabad. She had made a deal to sell the infant to a childless couple.

Khan’s name cropped up during the interrogation of the two accused. “We analysed their call detail records (CDRs) and found that numerous calls were exchanged with a Hyderabad-based number, which was confirmed to be Khan’s,” said a police officer.

Khan was apprehended on Wednesday night and brought to Mumbai on Thursday.

Senior police inspector Balasaheb Tambe said, “The organised manner in which the kidnap and the subsequent exchange with the couple was set up, leads us to suspect that Khan has been in the illegal child selling racket for some time. We are analysing her call detail records (CDRs). Originally from Kurla, Khan shifted to Hyderabad 10 months ago with her husband after he lost his job as a cab driver,” the police officer said.