RIYADH, 11 September 2007 — Riyadh authorities returned to parents an infant that went missing from a daycare center on Saturday, police said yesterday.
The mother of the one-and-a-half-year old dropped the baby off at about 10 a.m. Another woman reportedly picked up the child claiming to be the child’s sister. When the mother found out she informed her husband and the police.
Police set out an all-points bulletin with a description of the child and warned checkpoints out of the city to be on the lookout for a possible abduction.
Twelve hours later a woman called reporting an abandoned infant in a residential complex in the north of the capital that turned out to be the missing baby. Police retrieved the child and took him to a local hospital where doctors confirmed that he was unharmed.
Police are still looking for the suspect in the abduction and are investigating how the daycare center could have given up a baby in its care to a stranger.
Muggers Busted
Four Saudis and a foreigner of unreported nationality, all between 27 and 39 years of age, were arrested on suspicion of being part of a gang of thugs who were targeting people for aggravated assault and robbery in the south of the capital.
The men were arrested after police received reports from residents about a group of muggers who have been stopping, beating and robbing pedestrians.
Police compiled descriptions of the suspects and distributed them to patrol units in areas where the thefts took place. The suspects were caught at different checkpoints and were later identified by the victims.
In another incident, police arrested two Saudis and a foreigner for stealing aluminum frames from the windows of houses in a district of Riyadh. Another foreigner was arrested for stealing electric cables from the company he used to work for.
The suspects, who later confessed to their crimes at Al-Suwaidi police station, are awaiting trial.
