Abbottabad police recover stolen infant, bust kidnapping ring

ABBOTTABAD: Abbottabad police on Wednesday safely recovered a 17-day-old infant and arrested four suspects, including a childless woman who confessed to stealing the newborn from a local hospital “in a desperate bid to save her marriage.”

Abbottabad District Police Officer (DPO) Haroon Rashid Khan told a press conference that the rapid operation was completed within hours of the abduction from the Women and Children Hospital in Abbottabad in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said that the primary suspect, identified as Aisha Bibi, admitted to orchestrating the kidnapping out of domestic pressure over her childlessness.

Police also arrested three alleged accomplices, Fayyaz Ahmed, Hazala Bibi and Wahab Ali, and impounded a vehicle used during the abduction.

The DPO said that the investigation was launched immediately after the infant’s father, Siraj, a resident of Jhangi Sayyedan, registered a kidnapping complaint at the Cantonment Police Station.

“A specialised police unit utilised advanced digital forensics, closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, hospital duty rosters, and physical evidence to trace the suspects to a hideout in the Kathwal neighboorhood of Nawan Shehr,” Rashid Khan said.

Following the successful raid, a delegation representing the infant’s family visited the DPO office to express gratitude to the local police leadership for the safe and swift recovery of the child. The infant was handed over to the family after the press conference.