Massive hunt launched as month-old baby kidnapped from GMC

PANJIM: Hundreds of police personnel fanned out across the North Goa District for over 12 hours in a hunt for a woman suspected to have abducted a month-old infant from the buzzing campus of Goa Medical College and Hospital in day light on Friday. Till late night the child had not been rescued.

From the moment a middle-aged mother came rushing out of the GMC frantically looking for her child, the police and good Samaritans have been on their toes to reunite the mother and son.

All public places were being thoroughly checked and police nakas were deployed to locate the suspect who was clad in pinkish-white traditional wear. The woman hid her face with her stole and that of the baby, wrapped in a cloth. 

It so happened that the mother of the baby had visited GMC to administer a polio vaccine to her infant. She decided to walk to the cafe located within the hospital campus for some snacks before leaving for home. Sources said she was probably on the radar of the unidentified kidnapper, who is also suspected to be a part of larger gang operating in the State. 

“The kidnapper greeted the mother and engaged her in conversation. On gaining the mother’s confidence during the brief conversation, the suspected kidnapper asked her victim to buy some snacks for her as well. She (kidnapper) then took the infant in her arms saying she will take care of him until the mother is back from the food counter. On the mother’s return, the woman and her infant were missing,” said a source.

It is learnt that the kidnapper hired a motorcycle pilot to drop her to Panjim bus stand, from where she hired another motorcycle pilot to Porvorim, from where she boarded a Mapusa-bound bus. 

“She asked the motorcycle pilot to drop her to Mapusa. The pilot said he would charge her Rs 300 to which the woman, who had her face covered with her dupatta said she had only Rs 200. She requested the pilot to drop her to bus stand. The pilot agreed,” said the source, quoting the pilot, who has also been 

actively assisting the police to trace the kidnapper. 

Another pilot from the bus stand told the police that the woman asked him to drop her till Porvorim, near a bus stop around a petrol pump. This pilot too confirmed to the police that the woman was holding an infant. She communicated with them in Konkani. 

As the police hunt had already begun, teams were also put on the job to track the location of the woman through CCTV footage wherever found.

It was learnt that the woman along with the infant had alighted from a bus near Mapusa circle and this was captured on the CCTV surveillance cameras installed around the vicinity. “We are verifying the footage. She has covered her face and so cannot be clearly identified. She is carrying something in her hand, presumably the kidnapped infant,” said a police official, adding that various teams were posted across different locations to ensure the accused does not cross the borders of Goa.

Activist Rama Kankonkar and his volunteer team have been simultaneously assisting in locating the infant. 

Herald spoke to North Superintendent of Police Shobhit Saxena, who refused to divulge details. “We have leads,” was what he said. Asked if the kidnapper was a part of an organised racket or operating independently, the officer said, “We are looking at all possibilities. Our priority is to rescue the infant.” 

Meanwhile Crime Branch has been roped in to trace the kidnapper.