Mumbai: A one-year-old baby girl, asleep with her parents in the main concourse at CSMT while waiting for their train, was kidnapped early on Friday. Within 24 hours, Govt Railway Police (GRP) solved the case with the arrest of a young woman.Police said the accused, Pooja Shinde (22), was using the baby for begging. A railway court remanded her in police custody. The baby was reunited with her family.Police said the baby girl and her parents wanted to travel to their hometown in Dharashiv by Latur Express. Her parents work as labourers. On Oct 15, the family reached CSMT around 7 pm. An hour later, they stepped out of the Terminus for dinner. By 10 pm, they returned and sat near a steel bench in the main concourse. Their train was scheduled to arrive on platforms 12/13 and the family decided to catch some sleep.The baby’s mother later told the police that she remembered feeding her daughter at 4 am before going back to sleep. Around 5.25 am, a group of police personnel entered the main concourse, blowing whistles and asking passengers to wake up. But the baby had vanished. After searching for her everywhere, her parents approached the cops for help.Police took the couple to the CCTV room and showed them footage from the Terminus. A young woman had been captured on camera carrying away the baby. The woman was dressed in an old salwar and had covered her head with a red dupatta.CSMT GRP immediately registered a case of kidnapping. Joint teams from CSMT GRP and GRP’s crime branch, supervised by DCP Pradnya Jedge, senior inspector Sambhaji Katare and senior inspector Anil Kadam, started checking CCTV footage from various stations. Within 24 hours, they managed to track down the suspect (Shinde) and arrest her.Sources said the police found CCTV footage that showed Shinde carrying the child and begging. She had cut the child’s hair to change her appearance. The child is unharmed, police said.Shinde has been slapped with section 139 (1) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. This section criminalises acts where one kidnaps a minor or, not being the lawful guardian, acquires custody of such a child with the intention of using such a child for begging purposes.Police said she has a prior criminal record of theft and had been booked by Sion Police along with her husband.
