Infant kidnapping case: Arrests rise to four; another child rescued in Mumbai

Investigation into this racket began on Wednesday (October 26) when a two-month-old girl was kidnapped from the pavement near St Xavier`s High School in the Lokmanya Tilak Marg area near CSMT.

New Delhi: An official said on Saturday that the number of arrests in connection with the kidnapping of a two-month-old girl from south Mumbai earlier this week, who was later rescued by police, has risen to four with the arrest of two people in the last 24 hours. Santosh Dhumale (30) was apprehended in Dharavi on Friday, while Bhimshappa Shaniwar, who allegedly bought a one-and-a-half-month-old girl from the former for Rs 3 lakh, was apprehended by Azad Maidan police later that day, he said. He added that Dhumale, from whom an infant was rescued, worked as a paramedic in a civil hospital in central Mumbai.

The investigation into this racket began on Wednesday when a two-month-old girl was kidnapped from the pavement near St Xavier's High School in the Lokmanya Tilak Marg area near CSMT, he said. Hours later, a couple was arrested in connection with the incident, and the child was reunited with her parents at a press conference addressed by police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar. Dhumale's name came up during the couple's interrogation, and he is accused of paying the latter Rs 60,000 to abduct the child, according to the official.

Giving details about Bhimshappa Shaniwar's role, the official said a probe was underway to find out the antecedents of the child he had bought from Dhumale for Rs 3 lakh. "This child was recovered from Dhumale. It seems the infant was abducted from some area outside Mumbai and a search was on to trace her parents, the official added. "So far, we have arrested four persons in the case. The infant recovered from Dhumale is being looked after at a children's care home," the official informed.

(With PTI inputs)