Yet to cut his milk teeth, Bittu gurgles lustily in the arms of Senior Inspector B V Kale while a woman constable plays nanny. Another constable rushes in with milk as Bittu's grandmother, the accused, sings a lullaby. As goons and other miscreants frighten the local community, the police station has been baby-sitting seven-month-old Bittu for four full days.

With his mother allegedly having committed suicide and his father and grandmother in custody, charged with abetting Seema Mantri's suicide, Bittu isthe toast of the Mira Road police station.A resident of Bhayander (E), Seema (27) allegedly committed suicide on February 2. However, at the insistence of Seema's relatives, police arrested her husband, Ramkishore (28), and mother-in-law, Achraj on February 9. Both were charged under Section 498 A (harassment) and 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code. With their arrest, Bittu also ended up in police custody.

But if the tenderness lavished on the infant is genuine, Seema's relatives say it is also being used as a smokescreen to delay the investigation at her in-law's behest. Police are also accused of being partial to the Mantris. ``The baby is being used by the Mantris to protect themselves from the police and thanks to Bittu, they have managed to get royal treatment at the police station,'' alleges Ram Niwas Kabra, Seema's uncle, who has come to Mumbai from Rajasthan.

``What royal treatment,'' asks Senior Inspector B V Kale. ``The only distinction is that they are not being kept in thelock-up along with the criminals,'' he says. Police say Bittu's requirements are frugal and they do not have to go out of their way to satisfy them. Even so, police have appointed two policewomen, S S Chavan and S R Dhasale, to exclusively take care of the child in shifts. ``After all, we policewallahs are not as inhuman as we are thought to be. At least not in my police station,'' beams Kale.

But doesn't all the gurgling and cooing distract the police from the investigation? Retorts Kale: ``The investigation does not require any recovery. As regards inquiries and statements, we face no problem even in the presence of Bittu,'' Kale claims.

But why wasn't the infant entrusted to a relative or neighbour? ``We did not have any alternative. Bittu is inseparable from his dadi,'' replies Bittu's father. The owner of a communications booth, Ramkishore married Seema three years ago. On February 2, the couple fought over who should bathe Bittu, and half an hour later, Seema was found hanging from the ceiling fanin her bedroom.

But Seema's relatives are not convinced. If she had indeed hanged herself from the fan, how come the fan showed no signs of damage? And how come her saree bore no dust particles from the blades,'' they ask. Both the accused were remanded to judicial custody by a Thane metropolitan magistrate for a fortnight. While Ramkishore has been sent to Thane jail, his mother has dispatched to the Adharwadi jail at Kalyan, Bittu in tow.