HYDERABAD, Oct 28: Police recovered a two-day-old girl hours after she had been kidnapped by a woman in the Hyderabad Civil Hospital on Sunday morning.

Police have arrested three women said to be involved in the crime.

The baby, born on Oct 26 in Gynaecology Ward-II of the Civil Hospital was the first child of Azizullah Nizamani and his wife Ambreen. Nizamani is resident of Matli, a town in Badin district and owns a shop there.

Ms Ambreen’s mother and mother-in-law who were staying with her in the ward said that a woman who was later identified as Nasreen befriended Ambreen. She would move around in the ward freely to give an impression to others that she was Ambreen’s acquaintance.In the wee hours of the day when the family and the rest of patients were asleep, Ms Nasreen allegedly came to the ward and took away the baby prompting a frantic search by her father who wasted no time in reporting the kidnapping at the Market police station.

Police picked up rickshaw driver Irfan who had dropped the woman in Shahdadpuri Mohallah. Another rickshaw driver who had seen Ms Nasreen boarding Irfan’s rickshaw helped police search by recalling that he had overheard the woman telling Irfan to drop her at the Memon Charitable Hospital, which was located in the vicinity of Shahdadpuri mohallah.

Nasreen arrived in the charitable hospital for the treatment of the baby, who had high fever. The doctor advised her to admit the baby after issuing her the hospital’s prescription slip.

When he asked about the baby’s mother she did not respond satisfactorily and left the hospital in a hurry. Her departure was followed by police’s arrival and doctors informed them about the suspicious woman who had come with the infant.

She then sent her sister Parveen and a relative Saima with the baby and the hospital’s slip to the same hospital. On seeing the same baby doctors immediately informed police who arrived there and detained the two women.

Ms Nasreen’s mother, Ms. Barkat, had also reached the hospital. Police are also looking for one Ms. Guddi, who had fed the baby.

Nasreen has no children and her husband is a labourer. She confessed to have committed the crime and told police that Saima and Parveen had nothing to do with it. But police had not so far released the two.

Hyderabad’s DIG of police Shaukat Shah said the hospital was also at fault because it failed to take precautionary measures, suggested to all the hospitals following kidnapping of baby Dua. As a result, another baby was kidnapped but fortunately recovered within hours, he said.

He said that during a visit to the Civil Hospital earlier in connection with the investigation of Dua kidnapping case he had suggested that hospital management should not allow everyone to move around freely but the administration apparently did not pay heed to it.

He said that police would certainly look into the fact whether there was any link between this case and the kidanpping of Dua. “I have formed an inquiry team, headed by Dr Mushtaq Memon to submit a report within 24-hours,” said a visibly upset medical superintendent. He denied having received any letter of instructions or precautionary measures from DIG police.

“Yes I recognise my daughter with the shirt she was wearing,” said a beaming Azizullah.

The hospital staff had changed ward of his wife and were not cooperating with him.

“Doctor on duty didn’t come to us when we called but she did come when the woman, who kidnapped my baby would call her,” he complained.

Market police had lodged an FIR on Azizullah’s compliant in the morning against unidentified persons because the baby had not been recovered by then.

The bay’s kidnapping is the second incident of this kind in recent past. Earlier, a three-day-old baby Dua was kidnapped in a government hospital in Latifabad on Aug 19.

Police have though picked several persons including the woman who had kidnapped Dua and remanded them in judicial custody but Dua has not yet been recovered despite the fact that Chief Justice of Pakistan has taken suo motu notice of the crime.