The crime branch of the Mumbai police has uncovered a major inter-state child trafficking network. So far four children have been rescued and according to police sources the number could go up as they step up their investigation. As on Tuesday, 14 members of a gang have been arrested and the police are on the look out for more members. The children sold for prices ranging from Rs 80,000 to Rs 4,00,000. What is shocking is that the gang included a doctor. The brokers who supplied the children were spread across several states. Significantly, of the 14 arrested persons 12 are women, who played an active role in the racket.
Racket Unveiled From Vikhroli To Guhagar, More Arrests Made
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Enforcement) R. Ragasudha the racket was exposed when her personnel discovered that a woman from Vikhroli had sold her five-month-old child to a woman named Sheetal Ware. The crime branch team tracked down Ware and closely interrogated her. The probe revealed that Ware had sold not just one child, but all five of them.
The Crime Branch found during its investigation that one Dr. Sanjay Sopanrao Khandare (BHMS), who has a clinic in Thane, had told a woman, Vandana Amit Pawar, that he knew a couple who wanted a child. To procure a child for this couple, Pawar contacted Ware, who sold five-monthand these people had sold a 5-month-old baby from Vikhroli for two lakh rupees. A team of the crime branch traced this child to Guhagar in Ratnagiri and rescued him.
When Ware, Pawar and Dr Sanjay Khandare were interrogated the names of more traffickers cropped up. The police then arrested .
Multiple Arrests And Rescues Across States
In a case related to child trafficking, the Crime Branch detained Sneha Yuvraj Suryavanshi, Nasima Hanif Khan, Lata Nanabhau Surwade, and Sharad Maruti Devare. It was found that the apprehended suspects were involved in trafficking newborns through intermediaries across various districts and states in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
By Sunday, seven suspects were arrested and their interrogation, it was found that this gang has sold a total of 14 children so far. The ages of the children ranged from 15 days to nine months. One child, who lived in Nallasopara, was sold in Malad. This child was sold for Rs 2.5 lakh and was rescued by the crime branch.
In the interrogation of the arrested suspects, led the sleuths to different parts of Maharashtra from where they arrested three more suspects on Monday. Their names were given as Reena, Swati, and Poonam. A Crime Branch official disclosed that during the interrogation of these three, four more suspects' names emerged, whom the police arrested from Visakhapatnam.
The names of the arrested suspects from Visakhapatnam are Sona, Padma, Anjali, and Gondamma. After questioning these four individuals, the police rescued an 8-month-old girl and a 2-year-old boy.
Hyderabad Couple Duped In Name Of Adoption
The police officer revealed that a girl was rescued from Hyderabad and a boy from Ahmednagar. When the girl was 15 days old, the accused Reena, who was arrested from Visakhapatnam, had bought the child through Sneha Suryavanshi for Rs 1.60 lakh. An officer said that the accused had sold this girl to a couple in Hyderabad who had been married for 25 years but had no child. If the couple wanted to adopt a child, the arrested accused provided the child to the couple in the name of adopting.
The Crime Branch has rescued a 2-year-old child from Ahmednagar who was sold by the arrested accused Sheetal Ware through an agent for Rs 1.90 lakh.
