Infant stolen from Thakurgaon hospital rescued in Gazipur, 4 arrested

A two-and-a-half-month-old infant, who was stolen from Thakurgaon 250-bed Modern Hospital, was rescued in Gazipur early today.

Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of Rab-1 and Rab-13 conducted a raid at a house in Mulaid village of Sreepur upazila, Gazipur, rescuing the infant and arresting four individuals, according to a press release signed by KMA Mamun Khan Chisti, company commander of Rab-1's specialised unit in Porabari, Gazipur.

The arrestees are prime accused, Sonali Akhter Shirin, 20, who allegedly took the baby from the hospital; her husband, Raju Kabiraj, 22, Md Liton Mia, 35, and his wife Lovely Begum, 39.

Later in the day, the Rab team handed over the infant and the accused to Thakurgaon police.

The infant, son of Shimul Hossain from Bhulli Mansurhat village in Thakurgaon Sadar upazila, was admitted to the hospital on Sunday with cold-related complications. He was stolen from the hospital's child ward on Monday evening.

Throughout Monday, an unidentified woman stayed by the child's side, assisting his family and taking care of him. In the evening, when the child's mother and grandmother left him in the woman's care to use the washroom in a nearby ward, both the woman and the child went missing. Despite searching the hospital premises, the family could not locate them.

Hospital authorities immediately alerted the police and reviewed CCTV footage, which confirmed that the unidentified woman had left the hospital with the infant at 6:52pm.

Rakibul Alam, residential medical officer (RMO) of the hospital, said the hospital promptly informed the police.

The infant's father filed a General Diary (GD) with the police the following day.

Police retrieved the suspect's image from CCTV footage and sought cooperation from Rab-13, which later contacted Rab-1.

The two units conducted a joint operation, rescued the infant, and arrested four suspects.