Mumbai Railway Police arrested a 22-year-old woman within 24 hours of the alleged kidnapping of a one-year-old girl from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, where the child had been sleeping with her parents before their train journey. Police said the child was recovered unharmed and that the woman had allegedly used her for begging.
The incident took place early on Friday in the main concourse of CSMT. The child’s parents, who work as labourers, had reached the terminus around 7 pm on October 15 to board the Latur Express to their hometown in Dharashiv. After stepping out for dinner, they returned around 10 pm and sat near a steel bench in the concourse because their train was scheduled to depart from platforms 12 and 13.
According to the police account cited by the Times News Network, the mother remembered feeding her daughter at about 4 am before going back to sleep. Around 5.25 am, police personnel entered the concourse, blowing whistles and asking passengers to wake up. The parents then realised that the child was missing and sought help from the police.
The Government Railway Police took the couple to the terminus’s CCTV room. Footage showed a young woman carrying the child away. Police said the suspect was wearing an old salwar and had covered her head with a red dupatta. The CSMT GRP registered a kidnapping case and formed joint teams with the GRP crime branch to examine CCTV footage from multiple railway stations.
Police identified the suspect as Pooja Shinde and arrested her within 24 hours. Investigators said CCTV footage showed Shinde carrying the child and begging. Police also alleged that she had cut the child’s hair to alter her appearance. The child was subsequently reunited with her parents.
The case was supervised by DCP Pradnya Jedge, along with senior inspectors Sambhaji Katare and Anil Kadam. A railway court remanded Shinde to police custody. She has been booked under Section 139(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which criminalises kidnapping a minor, or acquiring custody of a child without being the lawful guardian, with the intention of using the child for begging.
Police said Shinde has a prior criminal record related to theft and had earlier been booked by Sion Police along with her husband. The investigation will continue under the custody remand ordered by the railway court.
