Kolkata: A woman and her husband who allegedly took away a newborn from Calcutta Medical College and Hospital were arrested Wednesday.
The Bowbazar police said that Chinmoyee Bej and husband Prashant Bej were detained for questioning after Saraswati Naskar’s three-day-old son was recovered from Bagmari in Manicktala Tuesday evening.
The couple was remanded to 10-day police custody by the city sessions court Wednesday till March 24, following a plea by the police for further investigation. No lawyer appeared for the couple when they appeared before the judge. Mr Prashant, a taxi driver, said he and his wife were innocent. The couple blamed their neighbours.
“It is our baby. Our neighbours falsely implicated us. Those who are claiming the baby as theirs should file a case against me,” he told reporters.
The police said that Ms Chinmoyee, even after suffering a miscarriage, acted as a pregnant woman for three months, inspired by Vidya Balan-starrer Kahaani in which the actress carried a fake bulge.
Ms Chinmoyee had also given birth to a female child. This time, she wanted a male child, but had a miscarriage three months ago, according to sources.
The police is not ruling out the possibility of enmity between her and Ms Saraswati, the newborn’s mother who also happens to be the neighbour. Any possible link of a baby-trafficking racket with the couple and the CMCH is also under investigation.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, also the health minister, held a meeting with top officials at Nabanna in afternoon. She set up a three-member committee to beef security at all government-run medical colleges and hospitals in the state.
The panel is headed by state health secretary R.S. Shukla, director general of police Surajit Kar Purkayastha said. The two other members are DGP and Kolkata Police commissioner Rajiv Kumar.
“Security arrangements at different state-level medical colleges and block-level hospitals are going to be increased,” Mr Purkayastha said.
“Though there are CCTVs at several places, more will be installed at places not covered by them. The number of police and security personnel will be increased.”
The police commissioner said that some people, taking advantage of the situation Tuesday evening, damaged the CMCH’s entrance. “As they destroyed public property, they will be dealt with seriously. We are identifying them and will ensure that they are prosecuted under the new law on vandalism which was passed recently in the state,” Mr Kumar said.
