Interstate infant trafficking: 6 more accused held

Shimla: The police in the Dehra sub-division of Kangra district have arrested six more persons in the interstate infant trafficking case, taking the total number of arrests so far in the case to nine, including seven women from Punjab.The arrested accused have been identified as Neelam Singh (54), Rimpy (38), Jasmail Kaur alias Bholi (60), Karamjeet Kaur alias Kale (34), all residents of Bathinda in Punjab; Kulwinder alias Raju (45) from Jalandhar; and Kiran alias Kali (30) from Sirsa in Haryana.
Last week, Dehra police busted the interstate infant trafficking racket by arresting three accused — Deepak Anand (40), a resident of Kangra; Maninderjeet Kaur alias Ritu (47) from Batala; and Anita alias Asha (59) from Jalandhar, Punjab.One additional woman apprehended in the case was released after being served a notice.The network was run from Punjab under the guise of facilitating adoption of newborns, said a police officer.The case came to light on Feb 17 when Rohit Rana, a local resident, filed a complaint at the Sansarpur Terrace police station regarding fraud of Rs 23,500 on the pretext of arranging child adoption.Following the registration of the case, Dehra police arrested the prime accused, Deepak Anand, from Jalandhar, Punjab. He was produced before the court and remanded to five days of police custody.During a detailed investigation, it was established that the accused acted as the main agent in the illegal buying and selling of newborn babies and connected interested couples to an organised gang operating from Punjab.Based on the preliminary investigation, one woman accused, Maninderjeet Kaur, was arrested from Batala, while Anita was arrested from Jalandhar. Both the accused were remanded to three days of police custody."So far, one infant has been safely rescued. Investigation revealed that approximately Rs 4.85 lakh was transacted illegally in connection with the baby's sale. As per the orders of the Juvenile Justice Board, the infant was handed over to a special adoption agency for care, protection, and lawful proceedings," said a police officer."Considering the seriousness of the case and the interstate involvement, further investigation in the case is presently on," the officer added.MSID:: 128747665 413 |