Chhaya Roy (left) hands over the baby to Rani in Jalpaiguri on Tuesday. Picture by Biplab Basak

Alipurduar, July 1: A one-year-old boy, rescued from a train and taken care of in the Alipurduar hospital, was handed over to his mother by the Jalpaiguri Child Welfare Committee tonight.

Alipurduar subdivisional officer R. Alice Vez had earlier in the day sent the baby, his mother and relatives, along with officials, to the chairperson of committee which, according to Juvenile Justice Act, is authorised to handle such cases.

The decision to reunite the baby with Rani Acharjee was taken after background checks proved that she was not lying about her identity.

Rani had come to the hospital from Bijni in Barpeta, Assam, on June 29, claiming that the baby found abandoned in the Amarnath Express at Alipurduar station was her son Sagar. She had said the baby was taken away by her husband after a quarrel. However, the SDO had asked the woman to submit certificates showing that she was the mother of the boy.

A team, consisting of police and the secretary of the Alipurduar Red Cross, had been sent to Bijni by Vez. They found that Rani and her husband Nepal lived in Bijni along with their 13-month-old baby.

The SDO said Rani’s father Baleswar Choudhury, who lives at Hazipur in Bihar, produced a ration card, residential certificate and Rani’s educational certificate, which proved that she was his daughter.

The SDO talked to D. Mukherjee, the superintendent of the Alipurduar hospital, and was told that the baby could be handed over to his mother only by the Child Welfare Committee in Jalpaiguri. Vez rang up Chhaya Roy, the chairperson of the committee, and told her that she was satisfied with the documents. Roy assured the SDO that the baby would be handed over to his mother.

Sagar was handed over to Rani around 9.45pm.