KARACHI - Police on Friday claimed to have recovered a newborn who was kidnapped from a government hospital on the outskirts of the city a couple of days ago.

A newborn girl was kidnapped from Qatar Hospital in Orangi Town a couple of days ago. Immediately after the incident, the family alerted the police. Baby’s father Amir told the police that a woman who introduced herself as a staffer of the hospital took the custody of the newborn and later disappeared from the hospital.

The police investigated the matter and managed to trace the suspect with the help of closed-circuit cameras installed at the hospital. The police traced accused Faizan, arrested his wife and recovered the kidnapped baby from the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where she was under treatment.

The arrest of the couple was disclosed during a press conference convened by Orangi Division SP Abid Ali. Ali informed the media that the couple involved in the kidnapping was being interrogated. He said the couple would also be questioned about kidnappings of other newborns.

This is not the first time that the police have recovered a newborn who was taken away from a government-run hospital. The police had arrested an 11-member gang involved in kidnapping of newborns from Sohrab Goth about a couple of months ago during an investigation into a newborn kidnapping case.  Separately, law enforcement agencies claimed to have arrested over 50 suspected criminals in raids and operations in parts of the city.

The Rangers claimed to have arrested at least eight suspected criminals in raids and operations in various localities of the city. The raids were carried out in Lyari, Sohrab Goth, Pak Colony, Shah Faisal Colony and Orangi Town. The accused were identified as a robber, two street criminals and five drug peddlers. The Rangers also claimed to have recovered weapons and narcotics from them.

On the other hand, police carried out various raids and operations in different localities and arrested over 50 suspects. Most of the arrested suspects were said to be absconders. Police said that 34 of those arrested were absconders and proclaimed offenders and they were wanted to the police in different cases. Police also recovered weapons and narcotics from them.

It’s worth mentioning here that the crackdown on the absconders has been launched on the directives of Sindh Police Inspector General AD Khowaja.