CCTVs help police identify kidnapper

Thanks to the CCTV cameras installed at VN Desai Hospital, Santacruz (East), the Vakola police have been able to identify the woman who kidnapped two-month-old Ayush Mishra on Friday. Police said the woman had been seen at the hospital for two days before she kidnapped the child.

Thanks to the CCTV cameras installed at VN Desai Hospital, Santacruz (East), the Vakola police have been able to identify the woman who kidnapped two-month-old Ayush Mishra on Friday. Police said the woman had been seen at the hospital for two days before she kidnapped the child.

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“We have footage of the woman while she was entering the hospital around 10.30 am. It is the only footage in which her face is clearly visible,” said an investigating officer, requesting anonymity, as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Investigators said that they did not have footage where she interacted with Ayush’s grandmother, as some cameras were non-functional. “Also, the woman had covered her face while leaving the hospital premises,” the officer added.

Hospital employees told the Vakola police that they had seen the woman visiting the hospital for at least two days before the kidnapping.

A Kharade, senior police inspector at Vakola police station, said, “Sketches of the accused are being made with the help of CCTV footage, and on the basis of the description by Ayush’s grandmother.”

On Friday morning, around 11.30 am, Ayush, along with his twin sister Kumkum, were brought to the hospital for a polio vaccine. The Mishras, from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, were waiting at the ground floor of the hospital when a burqa-clad woman befriended them, speaking to them in their native language. Ayush’s mother, Puja, later went to the first floor with Kumkum and the accused accompanied her.

A few minutes later, the woman returned and told Ayush’s grandmother, Shyama, that Puja was calling for Ayush. Shyama handed Ayush to the woman, who disappeared with him.