“When I held the child in my arms on Saturday morning, I just wondered how could someone abandon such a beautiful boy?” remarked Gujarat State Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi who went to meet an infant abandoned outside a gaushala at Pethapur village near Gandhinagar.
At around 8 PM on Friday night, a gaushala volunteer at the gaushala heard the cries of a child and stepped out to identify the source. To his surprise, he found an infant crying at the doorsteps of the gaushala of Swaminarayan Gurukul.
He then contacted the Swamiji of the Gurukul and as per his instructions informed the police control room about the boy. Assistant Subinspector Harshrajsinh along with some other staff reached the gaushala immediately to investigate the matter further.
While initially, the residents of a nearby society volunteered to take care of the infant, BJP councilor Diptiben along with her husband Manishbhai rushed to the police station to inquire about the child.
Diptiben decided to stay back to take care of the child while he mingled well with the police staff. The boy was then taken to Civil Hospital for a routine check-up.
State Home Minister rushes to meet the child
Gujarat State Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi visited the Gandhinagar Civil Hospital on Saturday to check on the child. He also announced initiating a probe into the matter.
The boy whose identity was yet to be determined was named ‘Smit’ by the police. The minister on Sunday took to Twitter to share a heartfelt video of him with the infant.
“The child, who was abandoned outside the Gaushala in Pethapur, has been admitted to the Civil Hospital in Gandhinagar. I visited the hospital to get information about the child’s health,” wrote Sanghavi in a Tweet.
પેથાપુરની ગૌશાળા બહાર તરછોડાયેલા બાળકને ગાંધીનગરની સિવિલ હોસ્પિટલમાં દાખલ કરવામાં આવ્યું છે, ત્યારે આ બાળકની સ્વાસ્થ્ય અંગેની જાણકારી મેળવવા હોસ્પિટલની મુલાકાત લીધી.
— Harsh Sanghavi (@sanghaviharsh) October 9, 2021
આ કૃત્યને વખોડી, સમગ્ર ઘટનાની ત્વરિત તપાસ અંગે ગાંધીનગર સહિત અન્ય ટીમોને પણ રવાના કરવામાં આવી છે. pic.twitter.com/6FyjCKhnaS
“I condemn the incident. Several teams including Gandhinagar have also been dispatched for a quick probe into the whole incident,” he said further.
Sanghavi also informed that he received requests from over 190 couples in the day to adopt the child.
Biological father identified
The police on Saturday identified that child’s father as one Sachin Dixit, a resident of Sector-26 in Gandhinagar city. While speaking with the media, Sanghavi informed, “The police came to know that the child’s name is Shivansh.”
He has been recognised as Shivansh, his father has been identified by police as Sachin Dixit.
— Harsh Sanghavi (@sanghaviharsh) October 9, 2021
Certain inquiry and detailed discussion is going on with the police department. We are happy to share that the kid is safe and healthy.
👏👏
“His father who originally belongs to Uttar Pradesh had been living in Sector-26 for 10 years and works with a Vadodara-based company called ‘Ozone’. The police also got this information that the child was not the son of his wife and currently, the identity of the child’s other parent is dubious. Once we question his father, more details will emerge,” added Sanghavi.
“The child was abandoned over an altercation between the husband and his wife who is not the mother of the child,” the minister informed further.
Reportedly, when the police reached Dixit’s Gandhinagar residence, his house was found locked and his cellphone switched off. According to the neighbors Dixit had left for Kota in Rajasthan on Saturday morning.
“Within 4 to 5 hours, the police will be bringing back the boy’s father and interrogate him for further investigation,” said Sanghavi while speaking with the media.
Sharing this update on Twitter and congratulating the police for nabbing the biological father of the child within 24 hours, Sanghavi said, “A sigh of relief. Bravo Gandhinagar Police team of more than 400 officials headed by IG Abhay Chudasama and SP Mayur Chawda.”
A sign of relief.
— Harsh Sanghavi (@sanghaviharsh) October 9, 2021
Bravo Gandhinagar Police team of more than 400 officials headed by IG Abhay Chudasama and SP Mayur Chawda.
“Smith” means smile in Gujarati, that’s what we all including the doctors and the police department named the little one. pic.twitter.com/idKGLOVuzm
He said that ‘Smit’ means smile and how that is what everyone in administration named the little boy.
As per reports, CCTV footage revealed Dixit (then unidentified) reaching the gurukul in a car. He then entered the Gaushala with a child in his arms, kept him near the gate and fled the spot. As per reports, Sachin Dixit had an affair with a woman in Vadodara and she gave birth to the child. Till yesterday, Sachin was able to maintain both the relationships, with his wife as well as his lover.
જાણો શિવાંશને તેના પિતા સચિન દીક્ષિત પેથાપુરની ગૌ શાળામાં કેમ મૂકવા ગયા, શું કારણ હતુ કે તેણે પોતાના માસૂમ બાળકને તરછોડી દીઘો ? pic.twitter.com/2MJwYtH1a3
— News18Gujarati (@News18Guj) October 10, 2021
However, when he got into a fight with the child’s mother, she gave the child to him and left the house in Vadodara. On Friday, he left for Gandhinagar, where he lives with his wife and parents, as usual and took the infant along. Sachin had milk delivered to his Gandhinagar house from this gaushala and hence thought of leaving behind the infant there. One he reached his home after abandoning the child, he left for Kota saying that he has some work.
A total of 14 teams of police including the Local Crime Branch, Special Operations Group, Gandhinagar Mahila police and Ahmedabad police were formed to trace the parents of the abandoned infant. Sachin Dixit’s father, Nand Kishor Dikshit has also promised to help with the probe.
“The teams worked round the clock for over 20 hours to crack the case. Several police officers who were involved in the case also received requests from their families to raise the child if the parents can’t. I thank the lakhs who prayed for him,” concluded the minister.
