Mother alleges baby snatched after 'devil's breath' sprayed in Cumilla

A 27-day-old infant has allegedly been snatched from her mother after spraying scopolamine, known as the 'devil's breath', in Debidwar, Cumilla. A case has been filed over the incident, and police are investigating the matter.

The alleged abduction took place around 12 pm on Thursday in the Debidwar Upazila Health Complex area. As of Friday, February 27, the baby had not been recovered.

The victim, Aklima Akter, 28, is the wife of Kamal Hossain from the Binaypara area of Debidwar municipality.

Aklima's brother Shah Nur Alam said his sister went to the health complex with her 27-day-old daughter Afsa Akter on Thursday. Two or three individuals present there told her there were no good doctors at the facility and suggested she accompany them to see a qualified doctor. They took the mother and child from the hospital to the highway, sprayed scopolamine to render Aklima unconscious and snatched the baby.

Later that afternoon, locals spotted Aklima lying near Saber Bazar adjacent to Moynamati in Burichang upazila on the Cumilla-Sylhet regional highway and called the emergency number 999. Police rescued Aklima.

That night, Kamal Hossain filed an abduction case with Debidwar police station against 2-3 unidentified individuals.

Debidwar Police Station OC Md Moniruzzaman said it could not be confirmed whether the victim was targeted by a gang that uses sedatives or abductors. Although the woman was rescued after receiving information, the baby has not yet been found. This was the first child of the couple.