9-Month-Old Jharkhand Baby Sold In Odisha Rescued, 5 Held

Bhubaneswar: A nine-month-old baby, who was allegedly kidnapped from Ranchi in Jharkhand and sold for Rs 58,000 in Odisha, has been rescued. Five persons have been arrested in this connection.

Sources said a joint team of Cuttack RPF and Ranchi police rescued the baby of Ranchi who was sold for Rs 58,000 in Odisha.

The accused have been identified as Amit Sanatan Pal (36), Radha Sahoo (38) and Sunil Mishra (18) of West Bengal, Nusrat Jahan (37) and Sohana Begum of Kalapancha within Charichhak police limits in Puri.

Police said one Pradeep Lohra of Dhagar Tola in Latehar district of Jharkhand had lodged a complaint with Chutia police station in Ranchi alleging that his nine-month-old baby boy was stolen from his wife while she was taking rest near the ticket counter at Ranchi railway station on May 12 night.

Pradeep and his wife had come from Agartala along with the baby in a train and decided to spend the night near Ranchi railway station as there was no communication to their native Latehar district. A little later, Pradeep left to buy some food. Whey he was away, two men and a woman offered tea to his wife which she drank only to be rendered unconscious. When Pradeep returned, he found his wife in a semi-conscious state with his baby boy missing.

Chutia police verified CCTV footages near Ranchi railway station basing on which a team visited different locations, including Cuttack. Subsequently, RPF and Ranchi police found a family comprising two male and a female staying in a rented house at Jobra to have been missing from the locality for the last few days. Their mobile phone location was found around Khurda railway station leading to the arrest of Pal, Sahoo and Mishra who confessed to have sold the baby to Nusrat Jahan, said a senior police official.

During interrogation, Nusrat Jahan confessed to have sold the baby to Sohana Begum for Rs 58,500 for a commission of Rs 20,000.

While the baby was handed over to his parents, Ranchi police took all the five accused on transit remand after producing them in a court for further investigation.