BENGALURU: Officers of the Anti-Human Trafficking Cell of the South Division Police busted a nexus involved in the purchase and sale of newborns, and have arrested five people, including two women. 11 children who were sold have been rescued, while those who had purchased the children have come forward to adopt them legally.
The police, probing the kidnapping of a newborn from the BBMP Maternity Home in Chamarajpet in June last year, had learnt about the gang that was active in buying and selling newborns. The police arrested a woman who had come from Mumbai to sell an infant in Bengaluru.
“While probing the case, the house of the accused, who succumbed to Covid, was searched and 28 mothers’ cards were found. Further investigation revealed that the cards were issued by a private hospital in Kengeri, which was shut down several months ago. It was found that a nurse and a compounder had stolen the cards and had issued them to the accused using the seal and forging doctors’ signatures,” the police said.
Police teams gathered information about the other accused and arrested five persons -- Devi Shanmugamma, Mahesh Kumar, Ranjana Deviprasad, Janardhan and Dhanalakshmi.
15 other newborns could’ve been sold
“It was found that the gang was operating for more than a year. Based on their information, 11 children who were sold were rescued. Further, it was found that the accused had links to people in slums across Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru, who convinced poor people to sell their newborns for Rs 80,000- 1 lakh to couples who had no children, whom they approached at IVF centres.
They sold each newborn for Rs 5-10 lakh, depending on their financial status. They had shown those who bought the babies as biological parents and had manipulated the mothers’ cards,” the police added. The police suspect that more than 15 other newborns have been sold and are making efforts to trace them. “The persons who sold the newborns will be accused in the case.
However, they have not been arrested yet,” the police added. While the rescued children have been handed over to the Child Welfare Committee, those who had purchased the children have come forward to adopt them legally. “However, the CWC will decide on it. In some cases, the accused had issued fake adoption certificates to avoid suspicion,” they said.