Cops become beggars to nab kidnapper in Mumbai

The railway police have intensified their search for the six-day-old baby who was kidnapped by a woman from the CST station on October 15.

Police personnel including two women officers, dressed up as beggars, have laid a trap outside Haji Ali durgah to nab the suspected woman who is suspected to be a beggar.

Senior inspector Dilip Mane of the CST railway police station said: “Soon after the kidnapping, we prepared a sketch of the suspect as per the descriptions given by the baby’s mother, Reshma Shaikh. A police team along with the Shaikh went to several famous shrines such as Haji Ali durgah at Worli, Mahim Durgah, Haji Malang durgah at Kalyan as well as Mahalaxmi, Mumbadevi and Siddhivinayak temples.”

When a beggar woman outside Haji Ali durgah saw the sketch, she told the officers that a woman with similar description, carrying a baby, was spotted there begging last Friday afternoon — the day the infant was kidnapped, said inspector Janardan Kolekar of the CST railway police station.

Kolekar said he suspected that the woman would visit Haji Ali, Mahim or Haji Malang Durgah with the baby for begging this Friday.

The CST railway police had formed two police teams on Tuesday to trace the woman. The kidnapper, introducing herself as Fatima Khan from Bihar, had approached Sheikh, 31, in CST retiring room on October 14 night. They became friendly and had spent the night there waiting for a train to Pune the following day.

At 5am the next day, Sheikh handed over her baby to Fatima and went to bathroom. When she returned, she was shocked to find Fatima missing with her baby and her bag containing Rs5,000.