A 46-year-old school bus driver Azam Pasha – who had been on the run for over two months after performing ‘Khatna’ (a Muslim ritual of performing circumcision on young boys) on a 21-day-old baby, leading to his death two days later —was nabbed on Sunday.

Exploiting the lack of awareness among the parents of the baby boy, Pasha, allegedly posing as a registered medical practitioner, circumcised the baby on May 4, leading to the newborn’s death two days later due to excessive bleeding.

Azam—on learning that the baby’s parents had complained to Shivajinagar police on May 6 —went absconding for over two months.

On discovering the excessive bleeding after the procedure, the newborn’s father, Ahmed Pasha, had tried contacting Azam to inform him about the procedure having gone awry. But the latter had allegedly cut the call, never to be reached by the distraught father and police for the next two months.

Police managed to nab Azam on Sunday morning at his residence by luring him into a trap laid by the parents with support of police.Azam, on being arrested, admitted that he had conducted circumcisions for the past 25 years. Shivajinagar police said the certificates in his possession—which stated that he was a registered medical practitioner—were fake.

Azam, a resident of 7th Cross, near Bilal Masjid, Mangammapalya, Bommanahalli, was also found in possession of tools that any barber would have; and he used these tools to perform circumcisions in unhygienic conditions. ? Azam circumcised 21-day-old Tabreez (name changed) around 4pm on May 4 as part of the Islamic ritual ‘Khatna’ after the child’s father, Ahmed Pasha (name changed), contacted him for the purpose. Azam reportedly charged Ahmed Rs1,000 for performing circumcision on Tabreez.

The child was taken to his grandparents’ house in Shivajinagar, but was found bleeding profusely from the incision on his genital. Ahmed and his wife Taslima rushed their baby to Anjum Health Care in Basavanagudi for first aid on May 4 evening.

“The doctors there told us that the circumcision was not done properly,” Ahmed told DNA while narrating the tragedy. The next day, as the bleeding continued, the parents took Tabreez to HBS Hospital in Shivajinagar twice before shifting him to Divine Hospital in ITI Layout in Benson Town.

As the complications did not subside, the doctors advised that Tabreez be shifted to Mahaveer Jain Hospital on Miller’s Road, where the baby was admitted in a serious condition on May 6 morning, but was declared dead by night.

Azam was employed as a bus driver with a reputed school in the city. However, his pamphlets show that he is a registered medical practitioner and owns a trust.

When DNA met him on Sunday, Azam boasted of having taken over the practice from his father Haji Nawab Jan Saheb and conducting as many as 500 circumcisions a month.

Shivajinagar police are investigating his claims as part of the investigations.