Woman and aide held after fleeing with newborn from hospital

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Tuesday arrested a woman and her alleged accomplice and rescued a three-day-old boy who was abducted from a hospital in Rohini earlier in the day, an official said.

The infant was allegedly kidnapped from the neonatal ward of Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital on early Tuesday, triggering a massive search operation.

A PCR call was received around 9 am at the North Rohini police station regarding the alleged kidnapping of the newborn. The complainant, Sahin (30), a resident of Narela, told police that she was admitted to the hospital on February 12 and delivered a male child on February 14.

"During her stay, an unknown woman, aged around 30 years, frequently visited her in the ward and gradually gained her trust by striking up conversations," the officer said.

The officer said around 5 am on Tuesday, the woman allegedly took the newborn in her lap, asking the mother to take rest. The complainant subsequently fell asleep. When she woke up around 8 am, she found that both the woman and her baby were missing from the ward.

Her husband, a labourer, immediately alerted the police through a PCR call.

Based on her statement, an FIR was registered at North Rohini police station and investigation was initiated.

"CCTV footage from the hospital showed a woman carrying an infant in her arms while leaving the premises. Multiple teams were formed to trace the accused, and hospital staff, security personnel and ward attendants were questioned. Alerts were also circulated and surveillance was mounted in and around the city," he added.

Using technical surveillance and human intelligence, police traced the suspects to the Delhi–Meerut Expressway, recovered the newborn and arrested a 40-year-old Delhi woman and Ahibaran Saxena (20) of Unnao. The child was medically examined and reunited. Motive and possible accomplices are

under investigation.