Woman fakes baby's kidnapping, held with paramour for murder

A woman was arrested from Morbi town today for faking the abduction of her six-month-old baby during Diwali, and her paramour for allegedly murdering the child at her behest, police said.
Unraveling the 'kidnapping' of the child Pranjal by two men dressed as monks on October 21, police apprehended her mother Jalpa, a resident of Nandanvan society on Vavdi Road in Morbi, and her lover Nilesh Patel for murder.
While Jalpa had initially claimed that two 'monks' took away the child from her, she spilled the beans during the police investigation, said Morbi town police inspector R A Sodha.
According to police, Jalpa herself handed over Pranjal to Patel and weaved the story of kidnapping.

Patel allegedly killed Pranjal and threw her body into a canal on October 21 itself, they said.
"We have arrested Jalpa Sanandia and her boyfriend Nilesh Patel on the charge of murder. Jalpa wanted to get rid of her daughter to start a new life with Patel and felt that her daughter is a big hurdle between herself and Patel," said the inspector Sodha.

In her complaint, Jalpa had claimed that two persons, dressed like monks, came to her house on October 21 morning and took away Pranjal after sprinkling some powder on her face which made her unconscious.
Her husband Rajnikant was not at home when the 'kidnapping' took place.

"During the course of our investigation, it was revealed that Jalpa was not telling the truth as none of her neighbours saw any monks that morning. Thus, we dug out the entire history of Jalpa and found that she has been in love with Patel, an accountant with a ceramic firm," said Sodha.
The inspector said Jalpa had handed over the child to Patel, who was in attire of a monk, before staging a drama of becoming unconscious.
"Patel killed the baby by strangulating her and kept her body in his car. Later, he threw it into a canal in the evening. Patel has confessed to the crime which led to the arrest of Jalpa," said Sodha.

Police have launched a search operation to trace Pranjal's body in the canal.