Delhi’s ’Baby Market’: Boys sold for Rs 8 lakh, girls for half the price

A newborn baby born in Rajasthan was smuggled to Delhi in just a few days. From there, he was sold to a childless couple in Haryana for several lakhs of rupees. The life and future of a child are being determined by the poverty of his family and the greed of a criminal gang.
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The Delhi Police has unearthed such a horrific child trafficking ring. Investigation has revealed that the ring used to collect newborn babies aged just four to five days from poor families and sell them to childless couples in the capital for lakhs of rupees. The main characters of this horrific ring were human traffickers, childless couples and the owner of a private hospital.

Investigation has revealed that girls were sold for three to four lakhs of rupees. On the other hand, boys were priced at six to eight lakhs of rupees.

A resident of Paharganj area of ​​central Delhi told the police that he regularly saw a woman in the area, who used to bring a different newborn baby every time. This information triggered the investigation. The police reviewed the footage of the surveillance cameras in the area and started collecting confidential information. After a few days of investigation, they identified the woman. The investigation revealed that the woman, Jyoti alias Kamlesh, was involved in child trafficking.

The operation of the undercover buyer

The police then came up with a plan. A female police officer was introduced as a child buyer and contacted Kamlesh. A meeting was held between the two and an agreement was reached to buy a baby. It was also agreed to pay Rs 20,000 as an advance. On June 5, Kamlesh came to the police with a newborn baby. He was arrested immediately after handing over the baby. The information obtained during interrogation surprised the police. The investigation revealed that this was not just a Delhi-centric case; rather, it was an organized trafficking ring spread across multiple states. Newborn babies were collected or stolen from poor families in Rajasthan and Gujarat and sold to childless couples in Madhya Pradesh and Haryana.

One after another arrest

Based on the interrogation of Kamlesh, the police identified his two associates Shalu and Lalit. Later, two more people named Pratibha and Bipin were arrested, who were involved in the collection and sale of newborn babies. Pratibha and Bipin were arrested when they were going to meet a person who supplied the babies. About three lakh rupees were recovered from them.

After two weeks of continuous investigation and interrogation, the police were able to recover five newborn babies under one month old. This raised some important questions for the investigators - where did the babies come from? Who collected them? Where were they kept in the capital? And to whom were they sold?

The trafficking center was a hospital

During the interrogation of the arrested persons, the police found a multi-purpose hospital located in Begumpur area of ​​Rohini in West Delhi. Investigation revealed that the hospital was the hub of the entire trafficking ring and its owner, Dr. Viveki, was the main coordinator of the entire ring. Madhya district Deputy Commissioner of Police Rohit Rajbir Singh said that the children were kept in the hospital until they were handed over to the buyers.

He said that Dr. Viveki was the main person in the entire ring. He used to help in forging the birth records of the children. Birth certificates, delivery papers and bills were all forged from his hospital, making it look like the children were born there.

Police investigation revealed that a girl child was collected for about one lakh rupees and later sold for three to four lakh rupees. On the other hand, a boy child was collected for about two lakh rupees and sold for six to eight lakh rupees. According to investigators, most of the deals for the sale of children were concluded at the hospital. Dr. Viveki acted as a middleman between the buyer couple and the traffickers.

Based on the information provided by the arrested persons, a person named Sababhai Ghamar alias Kalia was arrested from Sabarkantha area of ​​Gujarat. Originally a resident of Udaipur, the man allegedly used to buy children from poor families in Pali in Rajasthan and Sabarkantha area of ​​Gujarat and sell them to childless couples through the hospital in Delhi.

The police are now trying to reach the biological parents of the rescued children. Whether they sold the children voluntarily, were forced to sell them or the children were stolen is being investigated. The police said that if any family sold the children voluntarily, then a case will be registered against them too.

Investigation has revealed that Ghamar and his associates have trafficked at least 30 newborns in the last one year. These children were sold to various childless couples in Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. The police have already arrested a couple named Sunny Arora and Ritu Arora from Panipat in Haryana and another couple from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. They have been charged with buying children.

The investigation also revealed a sensational incident. Deputy Commissioner of Police Rohit Rajbir Singh said that a couple wanted to buy a baby boy. At that time, the trafficking gang also had a baby girl, whom they were interested in selling quickly. So, they introduced a boy and a girl as twins and sold them to the couple for Rs 9 lakh. Later, investigation revealed that the two children were brought from different places and there was no family relationship between them.

Current status of the rescued children

The five rescued newborns have been handed over to the Child Welfare Committee