Interrogations revealed that Jana, a resident of Virar, had six daughters and keenly desired a baby boy. This was the reason behind kidnapping the infant, police said. Jana also suffered a miscarriage last month, in which she lost her baby that was reportedly a boy. Jana’s husband works as a plumber.

Jana had first met Nirmala and her mother-in-law Kamla Khare, both residing at Dahisar in a lower-middle class locality, at Shatabdi Hospital in Borivali. The duo was at the hospital with Prem, who was suffering from fever.

“It was there that Reshma won the confidence of the duo. She told them that she was a social worker. After gaining their confidence, she offered to take them to Sanjivani Hospital in Borivali. The duo later went to a hospital in Virar with her where the boy was treated,” said S R Gaikwad, senior police inspector at Borivali railway police station. “The doctor told them to come for a follow-up the following day.”

Jana then gave them her mobile number and asked them to give her a call as soon as they reached Borivali railway station on January 9. As decided, the duo along with the infant and Nirmala’s three-year-old daughter came to Borivali railway station the next day and Jana joined them. Nirmala handed over Prem to her mother-in-law Kamla, 60, when she escorted her daughter to buy a bottle of water.

“Jana had gained their confidence by then. She told Kamla to hand over the baby to her on the pretext that the latter would find it difficult to board the train with the infant in hand. She also told Kamla to call Nirmala who had gone to fetch water. She then seized the opportunity and fled the station,” Gaikwad said.

A case was registered with the Borivali railway police and it formed four teams to nab the woman. They retrieved the CCTV images and the cellphone number of the woman.