Baby’s days out: Newborn abducted from Ayub Medical Complex recovered

Two hospital staff members accused of kidnapping the boy arrested.

ABBOTTABAD:

A newborn abducted from Ayub Medical Complex (AMC) two days earlier was recovered by the police, DPO Muhammad Ali Khan Gandapur told the media on Wednesday.

Gandapur said Hamza Bibi, wife of Seebab Khan of Torghar district, gave birth to a boy on the night of May 4 at AMC. The next morning, Bibi was shifted to the gynecology ward with her baby. There, a woman accompanied by a man approached the mother posing as hospital staff and asked to take the baby for a vaccination. Ignorant of the woman’s intention, Bibi handed over the newborn to the abductors who later handed the baby over to the alleged mastermind, Lubna, said the DPO.

While the man and woman who took the baby disappeared, the principal accused sold the newborn to a couple, Aisha Javed and Nasir Ahmed, for Rs60,000. DPO Gandapur said police then registered a case and started investigating. Fearing legal action, the couple first obtained pre-arrest bail from a local court and then took the baby to Mirpur police station.

Acting on the information provided by the couple, police arrested Maqsood, a ward orderly of the gynaecology department, and Naheed, a member of the hospital’s janitorial staff. Both Maqsood and Naheed confessed their crime and disclosed details of the incident. The DPO said the principal accused, Lubna, is still at large and would be apprehended soon.

Gandapur said police will learn more in the coming days from the accused couple who would be interrogated after the expiry of their bail while the arrested hospital staff members would also reveal more details.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2014.