Vadodara, Aug 1 (PTI) Seven persons have been arrested after the Vadodara city Crime Branch rescued a newborn allegedly being taken to Mumbai to be sold for Rs 3 lakh, exposing a baby-trafficking syndicate, officials said on Saturday.
Acting on a tip-off, police on July 28 intercepted a man and his wife, who were travelling on a bus on National Highway-48 with a nearly three-week-old baby, according to an official release.
Police identified the couple as Manoj Raval (38) and his wife Vina Raval (32), residents of Chatavada village in Patan district. The couple was travelling with their eight-year-old son when they were stopped near a hotel on the highway.
“As they failed to provide any satisfactory explanation regarding the newborn, the infant was shifted to SSG Hospital (in Vadodara) for medical care and safe custody pending identification of the legal guardians,” the release said.
The couple claimed that the newborn had been handed over to them by Vina’s brother, Sunil Raval, who allegedly asked them to deliver the infant to a contact in Mumbai in return for Rs 20,000.
According to the police, the newborn’s parents, residents of Sabarkantha district, were allegedly promised Rs 2 lakh for the child, while another accused, identified as Nagin Bhagora, was to receive Rs 10,000 as commission.
The baby is the son of Laxman, who allegedly handed it over to his relative, Shravan Parmar, who in turn passed the infant to Nagin, said police.
The infant was allegedly to be sold in Mumbai for Rs 3 lakh through a network of middlemen of a human-trafficking ring, police said.
Police said Sunil allegedly gave Rs 5,000 to the couple for travel expenses and instructed them to remain in contact with a Mumbai-based person, identified only as “Doctor”, who would guide them over the phone regarding the delivery of the infant.
Based on the investigation, the Crime Branch registered an FIR under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. The probe has been transferred to the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit.
Further investigation revealed that the rescued infant was born on July 6 at a hospital in Danta in Banaskantha district, the release said.
According to police, the alleged traffickers targeted the baby’s parents because they are poor.
Information shared by Sunil Raval suggested that three other newborns from different parts of Banaskantha district had allegedly been sold in Mumbai over the past one and a half months through a network of agents, the release said.
“The persons arrested in connection with this case have been identified as Manoj, Vina, Dalpat Raval, Sunil Raval, Nagin, Shravan Parmar and Laxman,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Himanshukumar Verma.
The “Doctor” from Mumbai is yet to be arrested, he added.
Crime Branch teams have been sent to different locations in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan to trace the other members of the syndicate and investigate the alleged trafficking network, the release noted. PTI KVM PD NR
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