Ahmedabad, Jan 29 (PTI) Police have arrested three persons, including a woman, and rescued from them a newborn baby whom they “purchased” in Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district and were taking to Hyderabad for “sale”, officials said on Thursday.
The driver of the car in which the three accused were travelling with the baby was also detained, they said.
Acting on a tip-off received and shared by Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Ahmedabad’s detection of crime branch (DCB) police on Wednesday laid a trap and intercepted a white car traveling from Himmatnagar in Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district towards Ahmedabad airport.
Upon inspection, a newborn baby was found in the possession of the occupants, the crime branch said in a release.
The occupants, identified as Vandana Panchal (34), a native of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh and currently residing in Ahmedabad; Roshan alias Sajjan Agrawal (42), a native of Rajasthan living in Hyderabad at present; and Sumit Yadav (27), a native of Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh who is residing in Ahmedabad, were arrested, it said.
Interrogation of the arrested persons revealed a multi-state child trafficking network spanning Gujarat, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh, it said.
The driver of the vehicle, Maulik Dave (32), was also detained, it said.
During the interrogation, the accused confessed to purchasing the newborn from a person named Munnu near Himmatnagar for Rs 3.60 lakh. They were on their way to Hyderabad to sell the infant to an agent named Nagraj, the crime branch said.
The police have seized Rs 10,050 cash, four mobile phones, and the car, and registered a formal complaint against the accused as well as the sellers and buyers (Munnu and Nagraj) under sections 143 (4), 137 (2) and 61 (2)(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) related to trafficking, kidnapping and criminal conspiracy, and relevant sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
“The rescued newborn has been handed over to the Child Health Officer for immediate care and medical observation. Further investigation is underway to uncover the larger network of this trafficking syndicate and to apprehend the absconding middlemen,” it said. PTI KA NP
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