Mumbai: Engineer couple, 9 others held for kidnap, purchase of baby

MUMBAI: The V P Road police arrested 11 people including an engineer couple on charges of kidnapping a four-month-old baby girl and buying her for Rs 4.8 lakh.
Anwari Shaikh, the complainant, who looked after the child while her parents were away for work, lodged an FIR. She told police that most of the time the child would be with one Ibrahim Shaikh, 32. Shaikh was staying as a live-in partner of the baby's mother.
Zonal DCP Dr Saurabh Tripathi said that after they got the complaint, several police teams were formed. “We collected information and nabbed six persons including Shaikh and a woman in Mumbai,” said Tripathi
Police had carried out search operations at Sion, Dharavi, Jogeshwari, Nagpada, Malad and Thane. After police got a clue of ‘child selling’ angle, the accused were subjected to sustained questioning during which they admitted to having sold the child. Two teams led by sub inspectors Dilip Tambe and Abhijit Deshmukh left for Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to trace the child. The team searched for the baby in three different districts in Tamil Nadu. “Our teams reached Coimbatore and finally traced the baby to an engineer couple’s house. The child was rescued and five more persons were arrested,” said Tripathi.
Shaikh has claimed to be the father of the baby, said police. The police have also begun the process for a DNA test. “Most of the accused played a role in selling the baby for money. It looks like a racket. We are further questioning them if they had committed similar crimes in the past,” said police.