A 10-month-old baby was allegedly abducted from a moving train after the child’s mother was drugged during a journey on the Nandankanan Express, prompting a multi-agency investigation by railway police across Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.
Journey turns into ordeal
Police said Munni Ansari, a resident of Dhora village, boarded the train at Aligarh on January 15 with her infant, intending to travel to her maternal home in Koderma. At the station, she reportedly met an unidentified man wearing a green sweater, and both entered the general coach.
After the train crossed Etawah, the man allegedly offered her a laddu laced with a sedative, causing her to lose consciousness. Police believe that during this period, the accused got down at Fatehpur with the baby.
Case traced through CCTV
Munni remained unconscious until the train reached Mirzapur, where she realised her child was missing and immediately approached the Government Railway Police (GRP). Preliminary findings suggested the crime occurred between Etawah and Kanpur, leading to the transfer of the case to Etawah GRP.
CCTV footage from Fatehpur station shows a man with his face covered, carrying the baby and wearing a green woollen cap. Investigators believe he crossed the tracks, took an e-rickshaw to the bus stand and boarded a Kanpur-bound bus.
Search intensifies
GRP officials said teams tracked the suspect to Kanpur’s Tatmill area, but he subsequently disappeared. Police suspect he may have travelled back towards Aligarh. Multiple teams from Etawah, Agra, Aligarh, Kanpur Central and Fatehpur GRP, along with the Railway Protection Force, are involved in the search.
“We are making every effort to recover the child at the earliest,” police said, adding that all possible routes and leads are being examined.