Nagpur: In a high-voltage kidnapping drama that kept the city on tenterhooks for eight hours on Friday, a newborn girl was snatched from her mother by a burqa-clad woman in govt-run Daga Hospital and dramatically recovered 10km away.The infant was reunited with her parents at Yashodhara Nagar police station after an intense search operation involving multiple police stations, anti-trafficking cell, CCTV scrutiny across 250 localities. The accused, Ashiana Anjum Sayyed Altaf, 29, added a final, chaotic chapter to a tense day-long operation through self-inflicted injuries that landed her in hospital.However, the breakthrough came from the accused’s own family. Ashiana, whose baby died a few days ago, allegedly stole the newborn from the Pathrabe family from the maternity ward and was preparing to take her home in Aurangabad. She left the child in Yashodhara Nagar and went to buy a railway ticket, when the word spread in the locality.Her brothers and other family members spotted viral WhatsApp posts with photographs about a newborn’s brazen abduction from Daga Hospital. A tip-off from a neighbour led police to Ashiana’s doorstep, where they rescued the baby and brought her to Yashodhara Nagar police station.Senior police inspector, Yunus Chand Shaikh, confirmed the recovery to TOI. Police advised the family to produce Ashiana, who had gone to another brother’s home. When she was being brought on an autorickshaw, Ashiana jumped out of the vehicle and sustained serious injuries. She was rushed to Mayo Hospital.The kidnapping unfolded with chilling precision earlier in the morning after the baby was born at 12:36 am on Friday to Prabha Pathrabe, 30, a resident of Golibar Chowk in central Nagpur. Her husband, Shakti Pathrabe, runs a Xerox centre.The newborn was in the care of Prabha’s mother, Meena Hadatkar, 50, when a burqa-clad woman approached her. The woman claimed that a free kit of ` 500 and a govt benefit of `5,000 were available under a post-delivery scheme. She also told Meena the family could avail of the benefits by producing Aadhaar cards. Ashiana took the mobile number of Prabha along with the couple’s Aadhaar cards and led Meena, who was carrying the newborn, from Ward No. 17 to Ward No. 15. The woman then insisted the infant needed to be taken inside for a thumb impression and biometric verification. She promised to return in a minute, but did not turn up. A worried Meena asked a nurse if she had seen a burqa-clad woman with a baby. The nurse confirmed the woman had left towards the OPD. Meena rushed to the OPD but found no trace of the woman. She returned to the ward where her daughter was resting, searched the premises frantically, and raised an alarm.Tehsil police was informed. Senior officers, including Zonal DCP Rahul Madne and senior inspector Sanjay Mendhe, rushed to the hospital. CCTV footage revealed several cameras were defunct. However, a few cameras towards the gate and OPD captured a burqa-clad woman arriving from Lal Imli Square around 11:35 am, entering the hospital, and leaving in an hour. The baby was not visible in the footage.Local sources revealed the woman had been loitering around Daga Hospital for three days, approaching people with offers of govt schemes and collecting Aadhaar details.Police expanded the search to CCTV cameras in Mominpura and other Muslim-dominated areas, including Yashodhara Nagar. What began as a hospital-based inquiry escalated into a citywide operation and a sigh of relief swept the police department and the Pathrabe family after the infant was reunited with the parents. The family was still in trauma, but expressed gratitude for the swift recovery.
