A mason has allegedly fled his home in Chakdah with one-year-old son following a tiff with wife who thinks her jobless husband might have a “bad intention”.

Mamata Biswas lodged an FIR, appealing to police to trace her husband and the son and saying the child had still “not been weaned”.

The alleged kidnap by Bablu Biswas, 35, took place last week. Mamata made a written appeal to the superintendent of police (Ranaghat) for help on Saturday following what she termed as “four days of inaction” by Chakdah police.

“My son Rishav could die if he is not fed. The police had the nerve to tell me that he would be fine with his father,” a distressed Biswas said.

The woman also appealed to the District Child Protection Officer and Child Line, an NGO working for children, to help find the baby. “My husband lost his job during the lockdown and is without money. I think he may have a bad intention for Rishav. It has been four days since Rishav was probably fed,” she said.

Sources said Bablu had escaped with Rishav from their rented home in the Kanthalpuli-Nimtala area of Chakdah following an altercation with Mamata on June 11.

As Mamata couldn’t locate either her son or husband, she and her landlord began a search in the area.

“At night, my mother-in-law Mina found my baby at a relative’s house in the Jahra area. But when she was returning, my husband beat her and snatched Rishav away again. It appeared that he wanted to harm the child. So, I lodged a police complaint. But they did nothing,” Mamata said.

House owner Biswarup Banerjee, who assisted Mamata, said: “The police say the baby is with the father and that is fine. But they do not realise his bad intention. We are afraid that such callousness on the part of the police might turn fatal for the baby.”

Superintendent (Ranaghat police district), V.S.R. Ananthnag, said: “I am looking into the matter and hope that the child will be found soon.”

Nadia district child protection officer, Anindya Das, said: “The father may be the biological guardian, but it appears he has a bad intention. Moreover, since the victim is a breastfeeding baby, he must be allowed to stay with his mother. According to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, it is the duty of police to track down the baby and return him to his mother.”

According to the JJ Act, every district police authority has a special Juvenile Police unit and the second officer of a police station is the designated Juvenile Welfare Police Officer.

“So, the police cannot ignore its role in such a manner. This is quite unfortunate,” Das said.