One-and-a-half-month-old baby disappears at a bus stop - and then his mother's secret is revealed

Indian police arrested five people, including the mother of a 45-day-old baby, on suspicion that she sold him to a couple from another district and staged his kidnapping. The baby was found safe and sound within less than a day of the missing person report being filed. The affair began when the father, Arvind, filed a police complaint stating that on October 16, his wife left the baby briefly in the care of a strange woman at a bus stop, and when she returned, the woman and the baby were gone. The investigation revealed that it was not a kidnapping, but a pre-arranged sale. The mother, Kranthi, allegedly sold her son to a couple from the Hathras district, with the mediation of Dr. Arun Kumar and his wife. The purchasing couple paid 200,000 rupees (about 6,500 shekels), of which the mother received 130,000 rupees and the doctor kept 70,000 as a brokerage fee. The five were arrested and the baby was rescued. A case was opened against them on suspicion of criminal conspiracy and human trafficking. The district police chief awarded a prize to the team that located the baby.