Following the arrest of four people in an alleged child-trafficking racket in Kausa, Mumbra police has identified one of the accused as the woman president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Mumbra, Shabnam Umar Shaikh, 41
Shabnam Shaikh is a former member of Awami Vikas Party
Following the arrest of four people in an alleged child-trafficking racket in Kausa, Mumbra police has identified one of the accused as the woman president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Mumbra, Shabnam Umar Shaikh, 41. Police sources have also identified the nurse, Ayesha Shaukat Shaikh, 52, who was instrumental in delivering the baby whom the accused tried to sell off. Cops have launched a hunt to trace the newborn's mother.
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On January 25, Mangesh Borse, assistant police inspector, Mumbra, had received a tip-off about a couple trying to sell a newborn at a flat in Rashid Compound in Kausa. Consequently, Borse and his team raided the premises to rescue the seven-day-old baby. The other two accused have been identified as Hasina Mohammed Ayub Siddiqui, 49, and Mohammed Ayub Mohammed Siddiqui, 53.
"All the accused were remanded in police custody till January 29. But now we have been granted an extension on the police remand to probe the case," said senior police inspector Kishore P. He informed that all the accused have been booked under relevant sections of the IPC and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015.
Speaking to mid-day, a Mumbra police officer said, "During initial probe, Ayesha, who is attached to a private hospital, said that she had delivered the baby in a flat instead of the hospital. We believe the mother of the baby did not want to keep the child, so she allowed Ayesha to keep it. But, Hasina and Shabnam tried to sell the baby. We recovered R30,000 from Shabnam's flat which may have been the advance money to buy the newborn." Shabnam had joined NCP around eight months ago.
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