Child trafficking racket busted, 11 infants rescued

Rachakonda CP Tarun Joshi said the prime suspect, Shobarani, who also runs a health clinic at Medipally, along with Swapna and Saleem, were bringing the infants from Delhi and Maharashtra.

Hyderabad: An inter-State child trafficking racket, involving suspects from different States, was busted by the Rachakonda Police on Tuesday.

The police rescued 11 infants during the operation conducted in the two Telugu States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

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Eleven persons were arrested by the police in connection with the racket and are suspected of having links to Delhi and Pune in Maharashtra. Rachakonda CP Tarun Joshi said the prime suspect, Shobarani, who also runs a health clinic at Medipally, along with Swapna and Saleem, were bringing the infants from Delhi and Maharashtra.

“The trio, with the help of their associates, was selling infants to childless couples between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5.5 lakh and earning hefty profits through illegal business. On specific information, Shobarani was nabbed and 11 infants, based on information provided by her, have been rescued,” he said.

Three people — Kiran and Prethi of Delhi, and Kannaiah of Pune in Maharashtra — were supplying the infants to Shobarani and her associates.

Presently, the trio is absconding. “We are sending teams to Delhi and Pune to trace Kiran, Prethi and Kannaiah. After they are caught, we can know about the biological parents of the infants. In further investigation we will know if any infant was kidnapped or willingly sold by their biological parents for money,” said Tarun Joshi.

Two of the infants, who were rescued, were shifted to Shishu Vihar at Ameerpet. He said around 50 infants were sold by Shobarani and her gang in two Telugu States.

“Adopting a child through the legal process is a big process and to avoid it, childless couples are buying them through agents and brokers which is illegal,” he said, adding there is also suspicion of some infants sold to NRI couples.