The CBI filed a chargesheet against nine people for alleged child trafficking, and the sale and purchase of newborns. The agency had rescued five babies during searches across the National Capital Region, Haryana and Rajasthan following which a case was registered on April 5.
This is the first chargesheet in the case and further investigation is underway. In the first raids at seven locations in April, the CBI rescued two male newborns – 1.5 days old and 15 days old – along with a one-month-old female. The agency also seized several documents along with Rs 5.5 lakh in cash.
According to the CBI, the accused through advertisements on social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp would be connected with childless couples looking to adopt. They purchased the infants from parents, who were economically downtrodden, the agency said.
Investigators said the accused would sell the newborns to hopeful parents across India for Rs 4 lakh to Rs 6 lakh per infant, giving them fake documentation related to birth and adoption. They also went to the extent of posing as the babies’ biological parents, they said.
Of the nine chargesheeted, eight accused were earlier arrested and sent to judicial custody. Police identified them as Neeraj from Sonipat; Indu Pawar, Aslam, Pooja Kashyap, Ritu, Anjali and Kavita from Delhi; and Hari Singh from Rajasthan. Another accused was subsequently traced and identified as Arti Naik from Rajasthan.
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