Stolen Dharmapuri baby rescued, 4 of family, including childless couple, arrested

The rescued baby was handed over to its parents thus ending their harrowing wait to get back their child. The infant was stolen on June 20, a day after delivery, when Malini, wife of Arul Mani, a carpenter from Nachanur village near Pennagaram had gone to attend nature’s call. On her return, she was shocked to find the baby missing. 

Police examined the CCTV images and found a woman walking out of the hospital with the baby. Similarly, images recorded in CCTV on some of the arterial roads showed the woman riding pillion in a bike with a man. Police then tracked the culprits to a house in the Indur area. 

The baby was rescued and handed over to father Arul Mani and grandmother Jayalakshmi. 

Police have secured Thanjia, 20, her husband John Basha, 24, mother Reshma, 41 and grandmother Begam, 60, for kidnapping the baby. Sources privy to the investigation claimed that staff working in the GH may have also helped the couple to carry away the baby by informing them about the delivery. 

“Preliminary inquiries revealed that the couple had stolen the baby from hospital as they were childless. Further investigations are on to know if someone else was also involved in the offence,” said Superintendent of Police Kalaiselvan. The infant’s father Arul Mani profusely thanked the police for rescuing his baby.