Sixmonthold baby abducted in tense Jharkhand

RANCHI: Unidentified people stole a six-month-old baby in Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharsawan district early on Friday, triggering protests and ratcheting up tensions in an area where rumours of child abduction led to mob lynching of nine people last week.

A local couple — identified as Subhash Gope and Parvati Gope — said men took away their girl in the middle of the night as they were sleeping with the door open due to heat. The incident was reported in Tiruldih, around 100 kilometers from capital Ranchi. Around 30 kilometers away, police said five unidentified masked men in black robes tried to steal a two-year girl but were chased away by the parents.

“We are certainly concerned but hopeful of recovering the child safely,” said Chandil subdivisional police officer Sandip Bhagat: “The incidents are handiwork of elements whose motive is to create unrest and defame the government.”