The NTR police commissionerate, investigating a child-trafficking case involving a gang of five women, said on Sunday (March 9) that they have so far rescued six infants; a search is on for one more infant sold by the gang. The police had busted the racket on March 1 and recovered from them ₹4 lakh.
The investigating teams rescued one infant from Seetanagaram in East Godavari district and two from Palakollu in West Godavari district. They also rescued three infants, kept for sale, from the accused, Commissioner of Police S.V. Rajashekar Babu told The Hindu.
The gang had allegedly sold the infants to childless couples from Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and West Godavari districts. “Sarojini, who was arrested in the case, used to purchase infants at ₹2 lakh each from kidnappers, and sell them for ₹4 lakh. The gang sold female infants for ₹3 lakh to ₹4 lakh and male infants for over ₹5 lakh to childless couples,” Mr. Rajashekar Babu said.
Over the past six months, Sarojini purchased seven infants from kidnappers and child-traffickers. The gang sold four babies before the police busted the racket, an officer investigating the case said on condition of anonymity.
The couples who purchased the infants were poor, and made a living doing agriculture labour. They had either sold or mortgaged their mangalasutrams or borrowed money to buy the infants, an investigating officer, who visited the couples’ houses, said on condition of anonymity.
The task force, probing the racket, suspect that the accused might have had links with kidnappers and child-traffickers in other States. Efforts were on to arrest the leader of the racket, the Commissioner of Police said.
Published – March 09, 2025 08:47 pm IST