6-month-old baby kidnapped from Phoolbagan B.C Roy children hospital premises

Panic gripped Kolkata's B.C. Roy Children’s Hospital (Dr. B. C. Roy Post Graduate Institute of Paediatric Sciences) when a six-month-old baby boy vanished from the hospital premises yesterday. The child, Mahir, had come with his parents from Bhangar for treatment when a woman posing as a nurse sweetly offered to hold the baby and got the outdoor ticket made, and then disappeared the moment the mother stepped out to buy medicines. Within minutes the terrified parents realised their son had been kidnapped and rushed to Phoolbagan police station.

Kolkata Police swung into action and using hospital's CCTV footage, they tracked the accused woman who was heading towards Sealdah station. Pictures were quickly sent to every police station and even to village shopkeepers. Within hours a shop owner in Nibundhia village of Bhangar 2 block recognised the suspect, Sabina Bibi alias Shyamoli Mondal, returning home with a baby.  By yesterday evening – just five hours after the kidnapping – Kolkata police with joint investigation by Phoolbagan and Bhangar's Uttar Kashipur thana officers surrounded her house and brought little Mahir back safe to his parents Manirul Molla and Manjila Bibi, residents of Chhelgewalia village of Bhangar.

The arrested woman remains a mystery to her own neighbours; nobody knows her real background or if she is part of a bigger child-trafficking racket. Police are questioning her intensely while the quick police action turned a nightmare into a happy ending. The incident has once again raised questions about safety inside Kolkata's hospital.