Balasore: The district police here Monday arrested a 40-year-old woman in connection with the theft of a newborn boy from the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH), Sunday. Superintendent of Police (SP) Sagarika Nath Monday said the baby has been rescued and handed over to his mother. She identified the child lifter as Sandhya Patra, 40, alias Jhampadi. Addressing a press conference, Nath said the baby had been stolen from the Maternal and Child Health Centre of the hospital barely eight hours after his birth when he was sleeping near his mother, in the wee hours of Sunday.
After it was discovered that the child was missing, his family members lodged a complaint with the Town police station. Nath said following the registration of the case (No- 210/14) the police scanned CCTV footage collected from the hospital, nearby bus stands and railway station, before finally zeroing in on the accused, Sandhya, a resident of Jaleswar area. Armed with reliable information about her whereabouts, a team from Town police station, with help from Jaleshwar police, raided a house near Block Colony at Shantia village under Jaleswar municipality. Sandhya was found along with the baby in the house, Nath added. She was put under arrest and the baby was rescued. During investigation, police learnt that Sandhya was earlier living in Hyderabad and she was about to sell the baby to a man in Hyderabad.
Police are investigating to know if the ASHA worker who accompanied the child’s mother to the hospital for delivery, or the security guard at the hospital, were involved in the crime, said the SP. According to reports, Anita Dandapata, wife of Purnachandra Dandapata, a resident of Kolhachada village under Baliapal police limits had delivered the baby boy at the DHH Saturday. An unidentified woman allegedly vanished with the child on the pretext of showing him to a doctor, in the early hours of Sunday.