In a swift and commendable operation, the CSMT Railway Police rescued a 10-month-old baby girl who was stolen from her mother's lap while she was asleep at the CSMT railway station. The baby was found within just five hours, and three suspects—two women and one man—have been arrested in connection with the case. During interrogation, the accused admitted they had kidnapped the baby with the intention of using her for begging.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Rubina Bibi Qutub Sher Sheikh (35), Arbaaz Subedar Shah (21), and Lajima Khatun (29). Rubina and Lajima are residents of West Bengal, while Arbaaz hails from Jharkhand. Rubina and Arbaaz were living together, and Lajima was reportedly living on the streets of Mumbai, surviving by begging.
On September 24, the complainant, a resident of Govandi, had visited Kasturba Hospital with her three-year-old son and 10-month-old daughter for treatment. After finishing at the hospital, she arrived at CSMT railway station late at night. Unable to find a train to Govandi, she decided to sleep in the ticket hall of the station with her children. The next morning, she woke up to find her daughter missing from her lap. She searched everywhere but couldn't find her. Distressed, she approached the CSMT Railway Police Station and filed a complaint.
Upon receiving the complaint, the police immediately began investigating and checked the station’s CCTV footage. In one of the videos, a woman was seen taking the baby away. A team led by Senior Police Inspector Vijay Tayade, along with Inspector Pradeep Salunkhe, API Satish Shirsath, PSI Arjun Sangle, Jyoti Madkatte, Sandeep Gaikwad, Deepak Shinde, and officers from the Crime Branch under the guidance of Senior Police Inspector Asruddin Sheikh, was formed to search for the baby.
API Satish Shirsath and his team meticulously checked nearly 100 CCTV footages from CSMT to Sandhurst Road, Nagpada, and JJ Hospital complex. The woman seen in the footage was eventually tracked to the Nagpada area, where she was found with the kidnapped baby. The police immediately detained her and brought her to the station for questioning. Soon after, the police arrested her two accomplices. During interrogation, all three confessed to the crime.
According to the police, Rubina and Arbaaz had turned to begging as they could not find any labor work. However, they realized that people were not giving them any money. It was during this time that they met Lajima Khatun, a seasoned beggar, who suggested that they would get more sympathy and money if they had a small child with them. Together, they devised a plan to steal a baby and headed to CSMT, where they kidnapped the 10-month-old girl. Within five hours of the theft, they had already laid the baby down on the street to start begging. Their plan was to hand the baby over to Lajima to continue begging, but before they could proceed, the police arrested all three and rescued the baby safely.
The investigation revealed that the trio had planned to use the baby to make money by begging and even considered renting her out to other beggars. "We are still investigating their exact plan, and more details will emerge after further inquiry," said Senior Police Inspector Vijay Tayade.
The baby has been reunited with her mother, and further investigation is ongoing.