VELLORE: In a swift operation, a newborn baby who was abducted from Vellore Adukkamparai General Hospital was traced and rescued by police from Karnataka within 24 hours of the incident. The four-day-old baby was reunited with his parents on Thursday evening.
The baby was abducted on Wednesday morning from the labour ward on the third floor of the hospital while his mother and grandmother were having breakfast.
The Vellore police soon identified the abductor, V Vyjayanthimala (38), with the help of CCTV footage. A team led by Vellore Town deputy superintendent of police E Thirunavukarasu travelled to Karnataka and located the baby.
According to officials sources, seven persons — Vyjayanthimala, C Ammu (43), N Leela (35), P Praveen Selvan (26), S Chelladurai (55), J Ajay Kumar (37) and A Aishwarya (33) — were arrested and produced in the court.
A press release from Vellore superintendent of police N Manivannan said that a couple from Chikkaballapur in Karnataka, identified as Ajay and Aishwarya, approached their landlord Leela to adopt a baby. Leela, who suggested adopting a baby from a poor family in exchange for money, contacted Ammu from Idayanchathu in Vellore.
Ammu suggested an illegal adoption and took `4 lakh from the couple, which was given to the former’s husband Chelladurai. However, the group who promised to get a baby cheated Ammu and Chelladurai and fled with the money. In desperation, Ammu offered `2 lakh to her domestic help Vyjayanthimala to procure a baby from the hospital, added the release.
Vyjayanthimala then abducted the baby from the labour ward and handed him over to Ammu. Later, Ammu, with the help of her husband and a relative, Praveen Selvan, took the baby to Leela at Chikkaballapur by car on Wednesday night. Police traced Leela and rescued the baby. After medical examinations, the newborn was handed over to the parents, said the SP.
Further investigation is under way.