Thane cops check 1600 CCTV cameras, tap vast informer network to rescue Mumbra infant from Akola

Thane police managed to rescue a 3-month-old girl kidnapped on January 22 after an exhaustive probe that included checking more than 1600 CCTVs along congested roads and overcrowded railway stations by four specialised teams, resulting in the arrest of three persons, a senior official said on Friday.

Thane police managed to rescue a 3-month-old girl kidnapped on January 22 after an exhaustive probe that included checking more than 1600 CCTVs along congested roads and overcrowded railway stations by four specialised teams, resulting in the arrest of three persons, a senior official said on Friday. The investigation took the police to nearby areas in Thane district as well as Akola, some 500 kilometres away, he added. On January 22 evening, Farjana Mansuri was crossing the busy Khadi Machine road with Aafia in her arms and another daughter in tow when a burqa-clad woman offered to hold the infant, Thane police commissioner Ashutosh Dhumbre said at a press conference. Moments later, this woman vanished into the crowd, leaving Farjana stunned, he said. ''We made four specialised teams to crack the case. More than 1600 CCTVs were checked, including at railway stations from Mumbra to CSMT and Titwala. The teams put in 18 hours a day trying to zero in on the accused through leads from various sources,'' he said. One footage showed the woman with the infant meeting a male in Mumbra, while also taking care to change clothes along the way to put the police off track, the official said. ''After a few dead ends, we managed to zero in one Nasreen Iqlaq Sheikh. Specific leads provided by informants helped a team reach Inshanagar, a crowded locality in Mumbra, from where she was held. However, her interrogation did not help much,'' he said. With the help of specific intelligence, a Mumbra police team raided a house in Haji Nagar in Akola and arrested Mohammad Mujeeb Gulab (31) and his wife, Doulnisa Mujeeb Mohammad (30), he said, adding the missing 3-month-old girl was found unharmed there. The commissioner said the motive appears to be illegal adoption or child trafficking, with more clarity expected after detailed interrogation of the three accused. ''Our teams worked round the clock because we knew every hour mattered for a three-month-old baby. This wasn't just a case. It was a missing to bring a daughter back home to her mother,'' Dhumbre said while praising the hard work put in by the local police.

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