Seven held, three infants rescued as CBI busts child trafficking racket in Delhi, Haryana
NEW DELHI : The CBI has busted a network of infant traffickers and arrested seven people who were part of the syndicate, following searches at seven locations in Delhi and Haryana. Three infants were rescued as well, officials said on Saturday.
“As part of the operation, the CBI conducted searches at seven locations across Delhi and Haryana. Two male infants of just 1.5 days and 15 days, and a one-monthold female child have been rescued during the operation. Incriminating articles, documents and Rs 5.5 lakh cash have been recovered,” said a senior official.
The CBI’s raiding team also arrested seven accused, who were identified as Neeraj, a resident of Sonipat in Haryana, Indu Pawar from Pashchim Vihar, Aslam from Patel Nagar, Pooja Kashyap of Narang Colony in Kanhayian Nagar, Ritu from Karala, Anjali from Malviya Nagar and Kavita, also a resident of Delhi.
According to CBI officials, the traffickers allegedly contacted childless couples desirous of adopting babies through advertisements on social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp. “They allegedly purchased babies from real parents as well as surrogate mothers, and thereafter sold the children at prices ranging between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 6 lakh per child. The accused also duped many childless couples of lakhs of rupees by creating fake documents related to adoption,” the official said.
The agency has booked 10 people including the arrested accused under various provisions of IPC and also of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015. They have been charged with running a network of trafficking infants and being involved in buying and selling them across India for adoption.