HYDERABAD: Desperate for a male child, three members of a family kidnapped a one-month-old boy from Niloufer Hospital, Nampally. After the infant’s parents alerted the authorities, the police traced the child in a few hours to the Pullur toll plaza in the Jogulamba Gadwal district. The infant was safely rescued, and the trio was arrested.
The accused — Abdulla alias Venkatesh (35), his wife Reshma alias Renuka (30) and Shaheen Begum (28), Reshma’s sister — hail from Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh.
According to the cops, Abdulla and Reshma, married since 2009, have three daughters. Reshma is currently eight months pregnant, but the couple feared having another girl child and were desperate for a male child. Shaheen, Reshma’s younger sister, had come to Hyderabad to assist her during her pregnancy. Together, they hatched a plan to kidnap a baby boy from the hospital.
Accused used attention diversion to grab baby
The infant, named Sauqlain, was born on October 25 to Haseena Begum at Area Hospital in Zaheerabad. The baby, suffering from jaundice, was shifted to Niloufer Children’s Hospital for treatment. On the day of the incident, while Haseena was signing discharge papers, Shaheen allegedly diverted her attention and fled with the baby.
Nampally police formed five teams to investigate the case. CCTV footage revealed that the accused were travelling on National Highway 44 toward Kurnool in AP. Local police stations along the highway were alerted, leading to the suspects being apprehended at Pullur Toll Plaza.