Interstate child trafficking racket busted, 6 held

Haridwar: Six people, including two couples, have been arrested after Haridwar police busted an interstate child trafficking racket. Two children were rescued during the operation, while efforts are underway to trace two others who remain missing, officials said.

Police said the gang primarily operated across UP, Uttarakhand and Delhi. The accused have been identified as Mohammad Aqeel and his wife Naseema, both residents of Moradabad in UP; Preeti Sharma and her husband Dharmendra Kumar from UP’s Muzaffarnagar district; Zulfikar, a resident of Amroha; and Shiva Singh, a resident of Siwan in Bihar.

According to police, the racket was allegedly run by Aqeel and Preeti, who abducted young boys and sold them to childless couples for amounts ranging between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 5 lakh.

A one-year-old boy abducted from New Delhi Railway Station in May was allegedly sold to a couple in Badaun, UP, for Rs 2 lakh. He has since been rescued, police said.

Police also rescued a three-year-old girl who was abducted from Haridwar. Investigators said the gang had allegedly mistaken her for a boy and abandoned her at Anand Vihar Railway Station in Delhi after realising she was a girl. She was later recovered safely.

SSP Navneet Singh said, “Preeti and Aqeel are the gang operators, and both targeted male children. Their criminal backgrounds have been verified and operations are underway to trace a five-month-old girl and a seven-month-old boy who were abducted from the Har-Ki-Pauri area and Piran Kaliyar. The involvement of the accused in both cases is also being examined.”