Jamshedpur (PTI): Police on Monday recovered a four-month-old baby boy stolen from a weekly market in Jharkhand's East Singhbhum district within 14 hours of the incident following the arrest of the accused woman, a senior police officer said.

The infant was handed over to his mother, Pratima Sardar, a resident of Rangamatia village under Dumaria block, SP (Rural) Rishabha Garg said.

Addressing a press conference here, Garg said Pratima along with her three children, including the four-month-old infant Indradev Sardar, had come to sell chicken at Degam haat bazar in Kowali police station limits on Sunday afternoon.

As the market was crowded, Pratima handed over her infant to her six-year-old daughter Mamta Sardar.

Taking advantage of the crowd, the accused woman, identified as Jhumarani Mandal, a native of Bhelaidih village under Kowali police station jurisdiction, abducted the baby boy, the SP said.

On finding her baby missing, Pratima along with others started searching for him but in vain.

She had lodged a complaint with police on Sunday evening.

Acting swiftly, a police team headed by DSP (Musabani) Sandip Bhagat was formed on the directive of Garg to recover the boy.

The team swung into action and based on CCTV footage as well as with the help of the technical cell, the kid was recovered within 14 hours of the incident and handed over to his mother, he said.

Mandal, 40, was arrested and a case under Section 137(2) BNS (kidnapping) was registered. Police said raids are ongoing to apprehend her accomplices.

Garg said Mandal, whose daughter cannot bear children, abducted the baby with the intention of keeping him. She had offered Mamta Rs 20 to buy something to eat and assured her that she would take care of the infant before fleeing with him, police said.

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Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.

The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).

"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.

The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.

The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.

Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.

They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.

Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.