Child sold for Rs 32K in Rajgarh, trafficking racket suspected

BHOPAL: In his quest for a male child, a father of three girls purchased a male infant for Rs 32,000, in Rajgarh district. The four-day-old was rescued by police on Thursday and kept under medical supervision at district hospital.
Police are suspecting child trafficking racket behind the crime. Kalu alias Rajesh Jamidar, resident of Jeerapur of the district purchased the infant from Katni district with the help of his relative Rajesh Gupta, a resident of Katni."Kalu has been arrested and is on police remand. A team has also been sent to Katni for arresting the other accused," SP (Rajgarh) Sushant Saxena told TOI.
"We got a tip off of a human trafficking case and on interrogation accused could not produce any documents pertaining to adoption or guardianship of the infant which is only four days old," Saxena said.
He said that he has taken the child from his relative Rajesh Gupta in Katni, both were booked and Kalu was produced before court which sent him to police custody. Later Kalu has told during interrogation that he was having only girls and wanted to have a male child, Saxena said adding, "So he purchased a two day old infant from a couple who were introduced to him by Rajesh Gupta from Katni district for Rs 32,000."
"A child was sold to him by a couple who Kalu says were not the parents of the infant. It could be a clear case of child trafficking racket. We have sent teams and further investigation will reveal the facts," Saxena told TOI.
"We have informed Katni police and child is kept under medical supervision with the due permission of child welfare committee," he added.