Inter-State Child Trafficking Racket Busted in Delhi; 13 Held, Five Infants Rescued

The Delhi Police has busted an inter-state child trafficking syndicate operating across multiple states, arresting 13 people -- including alleged traffickers, mediators, buyers and a hospital owner -- while rescuing five infants, an official said on Thursday.

The racket was unearthed following a decoy operation near RK Ashram Metro Station in Paharganj on June 5, he said. Police caught three accused: Jyoti alias Kamlesh (37), Shalu (43) and Lalit while they were allegedly attempting to sell a newborn baby boy, aged about four to five days, to decoy customers.

The official said after the infant was rescued and Rs 20,000 paid as token money by the decoy buyers was recovered, police registered a case at Paharganj police station under relevant provisions of the BNS and the Juvenile Justice Act.

Investigation revealed that the accused were part of an child trafficking network that procured infants from different states and sold them to childless couples for lakhs of rupees, police said.

According to investigators, Jyoti was a key coordinator of the syndicate and sourced newborns through intermediaries, including an accused, Saybabhai Ghamar alias Kalia, who allegedly supplied infants from Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Based on disclosures made by the arrested accused, police later apprehended Pratibha, a freelance lab technician associated with a private hospital, and Vipin, a driver who allegedly facilitated the transportation of infants and syndicate members. Police recovered Rs 2.92 lakh cash from them, allegedly intended for purchasing a newborn child.

Police said another accused, Omwati, a domestic worker from Gurugram, allegedly acted as a mediator and arranged infants for the trafficking network. Investigators found the alleged involvement of Dr Viveki, owner of Heera Multi Speciality Hospital in Begampur, who facilitated illegal adoptions by sheltering trafficked infants at the facility, identifying prospective buyers among childless couples seeking fertility treatment and arranging fabricated medical and birth-related documents to establish false parentage.

The probe found that the syndicate operated through a network of suppliers, transporters, facilitators and buyers spread across Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

Police said the infants were allegedly procured from different sources, transported to Delhi and later sold to prospective buyers after forged records were prepared to show legal parentage.

Police said the arrested buyers include Mukesh and Reema Pal of Gwalior, who allegedly purchased two infants; Sunny Arora and Ritu Arora of Panipat, who allegedly purchased one infant; and Sarika of Panipat, who was also found in possession of a trafficked child.

Police said Kalia, described as the syndicate's major supplier, was traced and arrested in Gujarat on June 17.

Four additional infants were rescued from Panipat in Haryana and Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, taking the total number of rescued children to five. Among them were two infants aged about 27 days and another aged around four months, police said. They said four of the rescued children are believed to be tribal babies while one is from Delhi.

Police said the investigation revealed illegal transactions worth several lakhs of rupees, with infants allegedly purchased for Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh and sold onward for Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.

All five rescued infants have been produced before the Child Welfare Committee, which has issued directions for their care, protection and rehabilitation.

Police said investigation is underway to identify the biological parents of the rescued children and ascertain the full extent of the trafficking network.