Delhi Police arrests 10 more suspects linked with interstate child-trafficking racket

New Delhi, Jul 10 (PTI) A probe into an interstate child trafficking racket has led to the arrest of 10 more persons including biological parents, traffickers, middlemen, buyers and a hospital owner, while four more children have been rescued, taking the total number of infants recovered in the case to nine, an official said on Friday. The latest arrests came over a month after police busted the racket in a decoy operation in central Delhi, when three persons were allegedly caught red-handed while trying to sell a newborn. Police said the fresh arrests exposed an organised network that allegedly procured infants from biological parents and sold them to childless couples for several lakhs in multiple states. "The accused arrested in the latest round include biological parents from Gujarat, alleged traffickers, mediators, adoptive buyers and the owner of a private hospital," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Rohit Rajbir Singh said in a statement. Police have also traced financial transactions running into several lakhs and are examining the money trail through bank accounts, he said. According to police, four more children were rescued during coordinated operations conducted in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. They include a 16-day-old male infant rescued from Rohini in Delhi, a one-month-old male infant from Rishikesh, a one-year-old boy from Mathura and an eight-month-old male infant from Haridwar. The total number of children rescued in the case is nine so far, the officer said. The case came to light on June 5, when a central district police team -- acting on specific inputs -- carried out a decoy operation near RK Ashram metro station in Paharganj area. During the operation, police apprehended three accused -- Jyoti alias Kamlesh, Shalu and Lalit -- while they were allegedly attempting to sell a four-to-five-day-old infant to decoy customers arranged by the police. The infant was rescued and police recovered Rs 20,000 paid as token money by the decoy buyers. "An FIR was registered at Paharganj police station. Given the seriousness of the case, police constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Additional DCP Prashant Chaudhary. The team included officers from multiple police units, while legal assistance was also taken because of the complexities involved in the investigation," DCP Singh said. Through sustained interrogation of the accused and technical investigation, the team uncovered a larger interstate child trafficking syndicate operating on a "need and supply" model. According to police, childless couples approached members of the syndicate seeking infants. The network would then identify biological parents willing to part with their children, procure the babies and sell them to prospective buyers for substantial sums. Police said the biological parents of one trafficked infant, identified as Kantibhai Gamar and Sugnaben Gamar from Gujarat's Sabarkantha district, were arrested after being traced through technical surveillance. "They sold their newborn to members of the syndicate, who later sold the child to another couple for a much higher amount. Another accused, Shankar Gamar, allegedly worked with a woman identified as Sahiba alias Kaliya Gamar in procuring infants from biological parents before supplying them to other members of the racket," the officer said. The other arrestees are Garima Jain of Delhi, who allegedly received a child through a hospital, her father-in-law Satish Jain, who allegedly paid Rs 8 lakh for procuring an infant, and Ketki Gupta of Rishikesh, who allegedly purchased a male infant for around Rs 4 lakh after remaining childless for nearly a decade. Police also arrested retired teacher Ram Prakash Nishad, who purchased a male child in 2025, and a Haridwar couple, Abha Singh and Amit Pratap Singh, who allegedly paid around Rs 5 lakh to obtain a male infant despite already having a daughter. "Another biological mother, identified as Ashima alias Ashi, had handed over her newborn after approaching the hospital owner. Police claimed the child was retained by the syndicate without any payment being made to the woman," he added. During the investigation, police found no evidence suggesting that the infants were obtained through illegal IVF or surrogacy procedures. Police said documentary evidence relating to hospital records and birth documents is being scrutinised as part of the investigation. All the rescued children have been produced before the Child Welfare Committee, which has issued directions regarding their care, protection and rehabilitation. Police said further investigation is underway to identify other members of the syndicate, establish the complete money trail and rescue more trafficked children. PTI BM ARB ARB