Bhubaneswar, Apr 13 (PTI) The one-and-a-half-year-old boy of a blind beggar woman was stolen from the footpath near a temple in the Odisha capital Bhubaneswar, police said on Sunday.

The incident took place near Sri Ram Mandir on Janpath road on Saturday night.

The woman in her late 20s lodged a complaint at Kharven Nagar police station and made a fervent appeal that her child be returned to her.

“I have not slept or eaten anything since last night. My child also not has taken any food. He is breast-fed. Please return my baby. I am also appealing to the police to bring my child back. He could steal the child because I am unable to see,” the mother said while crying.

She said an unknown man came to her when she along with her two children was sleeping on the pavement of Janpath.

“He offered us fruit juice and gave his mobile phone to my child. The baby was playing with it and I went back to sleep. When I woke up, he left the place with the child,” the mother said.

The woman said she earns her livelihood by begging outside Sri Ram Mandir.

The police started an investigation into the matter and were watching footage of CCTV cameras installed around the temple.

“We have found two men along with a baby walking on Janpath from Sri Ram Mandir towards Raj Mahal. A car was also used in the child lifting,” an officer said. PTI AAM AAM NN