Infant sold 7 times, police apprehend 11 for child trafficking

A three-month-old girl was sold by her father for Rs 70,000, and 11 people were found to have been involved in the case, said the police, adding that all the accused have been apprehended.

Guntur: Eleven people have been arrested in a child trafficking case here for allegedly selling a three-month-old baby, said Andhra police on Wednesday.

A three-month-old girl was sold by her father for Rs 70,000, and 11 people were found to have been involved in the case, said the police, adding that all the accused have been apprehended.

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The matter came to light after the mother and grandmother of the infant reported the case to the police, accusing the father of the child for selling for Rs 70,000 as he was habituated to bad vices.

Deputy Superintendent of police of North division, Mangalgiri Police Station, J Rambabu said, “We rescued the infant and handed her over safely to the parents. The main accused in the case is her father who had sold the baby. The baby was sold to many people subsequently and the accused do not have any criminal backgrounds. Lastly, she was sold for Rs 2,50,000 before police caught the culprits.” The police also stated that the accused who had bought the baby belonged to Mangalgiri, Dachepally, Hyderabad while the infant was finally rescued from Vijayawada.

The accused Manoj, father of the infant, has two other daughters. Three months ago, when his wife gave birth to another girl child, the accused with the help of a woman, Mikkili Nagalakshmi, from the same area, sold the baby to a married woman Meghawat Gayatri alias Saraswati of Kondaprolu village in Damracharla Mandal of Nalgonda district for Rs 70,000.

Later, Meghawat Gayatri, who had bought the baby, sold her for Rs 1,20,000 to Bhookya Balavartiraju of Dilshuk Nagar, Hyderabad, who in turn sold the infant to Nurjahan for Rs 1,87,000.

Nur Jahan with the help of another accused Anubhoju Uday Kiran of Khammam district sold the baby to Bommada Ummadevi of Chikkadpally Narayana Guda in Hyderabad for Rs 1,90,000 who further sold her to Padala Shravani of Vijayawada Benz Circle for Rs 2,00,000.

Padala Sravani sold the baby to Garikamukku Vijayalakshmi of Gollapudi, Vijayawada for Rs 2,20,000 who lastly sold the baby to Varre Ramesh of Eluru, East Godavari district for Rs 2,50,000.

“On the direction of Guntur District Urban Superintendent of Police Arif Hafeez, the police team caught the culprits and rescued the baby and handed her over to the parents. Urban SP Arif Hafeez announced the rewards for the police officers and staff that excelled in the case,” said the DSP Rambabu.