Keeping track of newborns help officials bust child sale racket in Nalgonda

Nalgonda: Keeping track of the newly born children by the Child Protection Unit officials helped bust a child sale racket with the arrest of four persons by the police, who also rescued an infant girl child in the process on Tuesday. Police said the gangsters were Vemula Babu Reddy (45), an employee of Padmaja fertility […]

Nalgonda: Keeping track of the newly born children by the Child Protection Unit officials helped bust a child sale racket with the arrest of four persons by the police, who also rescued an infant girl child in the process on Tuesday.

Police said the gangsters were Vemula Babu Reddy (45), an employee of Padmaja fertility center in Habsiguda of Hyderabad, Vallepu Shyam (35), an auto driver, . Eragadindla Madhavi( 27) from Hyderabad and Chirra Madhavi (35) from Warangal. Two other persons who wer part of the gang, Sampangi Vasantha and Krishnaveni were absconding.

District SP Rema Rajeshwari told newsmen the racket came to light after the District Child Protection Unit officials kept a watch on the newborn children in the district. The officials recorded that a woman Rudavath Kavitha of Yerrabitchya Thanda in Devarakonda mandal gave birth to twins (female babies) On July 7 in the Devarakonda Area Hospital. The ICDS Supervisor Nenavath Radha found that instead of two girl children, only one baby was present with Kavitha. Smelling a rat, the official alerted the police who began investigation.

Police officials found that one of the twins was sold for Rs 3 lakh and that the gang members had paid Rs 80,000 to Rudavath Hasli, the grandmother of the baby. The gang members shared the remaining amont of Rs. 2.2 lakh among themselves.

The gang’s modus operandi of the gang was that Babu Reddy would lure the childless couple, who come to the IVF centres for treatment saying there was a baby for adoption. Through other gang members, he would get the details of the parents, who were willing to sell their childre,. Rudavath Kavitha was already having three daughters and delivered twins in her fourth delivery.

Babu Reddy was a habitual child seller as he previously involved in child sale case in Alwal area of Hyderabad in 2018.

In the current casse, the photos of new born baby were shared by the arrested persons were collected from their cell phones. These photos were sent by WhatsApp to those who bought the child. Police recovered Rs 70,000 from the gang members.