Bengaluru: Child Trafficking Racket Busted, 7 Arrested for Selling Infants For Rs 10 Lakh Each

Bengaluru Police on Tuesday busted an infant trafficking racket and arrested seven agents allegedly for selling newborn babies to childless couples with as high as Rs 10 lakh for each kid.

The activities of the gang came to light when a 20-day-old male child was rescued from them in Rajarajeshwari Nagar in suspicious circumstances.

The arrested persons have been identified as Suhasini, Gomathi, Kannan Ramaswamy, Hemalatha, Sharanya, Mahalakshmi, and Radha, police sources said adding that a case has been registered at the Rajarajeshwari Nagar police station.

The infant trafficking racket was involved in the activity for many years, said the commissioner.

The group was allegedly involved in stealing newborn babies mostly from Tamil Nadu and then selling them to childless couples at a high price of Rs 8 to Rs 10 lakh each in Bengaluru.

“It is a vast racket in which trafficked babies are sold to childless parents at Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. An interrogation by the Central Crime Branch revealed that they have sold 10 babies so far, police commissioner B Dayananda told news agency PTI.

According to the commissioner, a large network is behind the racket and it also involves some doctors from Tamil Nadu.

“We have taken them into police custody and are interrogating them.” The gang was also providing forged documents and infant ID’s to the childless parents after selling the babies, he added.

Through investigation, it has been found that some doctors are also involved in the racket. ” We are investigating the role of doctors from Tamil Nadu,”said the commissioner.

Back in May 2023, Uttar Pradesh Police busted an interstate gang of child traffickers that was active in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency Varanasi.

Cops said within the span of a year, the gang lifted around 50 children from Varanasi and its neighbouring districts, whom they sold for Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh in states like Bihar, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan, said police. The matter was reported to Varanasi’s Bhelupur Police Station.

(with PTI inputs)