Network of gang buying, selling newborns spread to other states too: Lucknow police

A joint team of Madiaon police and crime branch of police commissioner busted a gang involved in buying and selling newborn babies and arrested six accused a few days ago

LUCKNOW The gang busted by the Lucknow police recently for allegedly selling newborns for ₹3 to ₹5 lakh to childless couples has its links not just in Lucknow but also across the state borders.

On February 25, Lucknow police arrested a doctor and five other accused, three of whom are women, near Shankarpur Dhal in Madiaon area here and also rescued a newborn. (For Representation)

On February 25, the police arrested a doctor and five other accused, three of whom are women, near Shankarpur Dhal in Madiaon area here and also rescued a newborn.

“This gang is active here but its network is spread to other districts of U.P., Delhi, Haryana and Jharkhand. An accused Santoshi, who worked as broker for the gang, revealed the names of other districts like Lakhimpur, Azamgarh and Sitapur,” said an officer privy to the investigation.

Meanwhile, assistant commissioner of police, Aliganj, Brijnarayan Singh said three police teams were searching other members of the gang. Call detail records (CDR) of the gang members were also being scrutinised, he added.

Information of every number of their mobile was being obtained. “Where the accused went in the last six months. Everything is being traced so that not only the illegal business can be exposed but also all the members involved in it can be put behind bars,” he added.

As per the police, the entire focus of the investigation right now is to find out how many children have been bought and sold so far. So far, names of four to five people have come up in the interrogation.

The team is interrogating those people. The money credited in their accounts is also being looked into. After this, police custody of all the arrested accused will be taken, police said.

“The team has been instructed to get the CDR of the number of Vinod, the mastermind of the gang. Contact all those whom he has talked to. It is being ascertained as to people of which hospital are involved in this,” the ACP said.

A joint team of Madiaon police and crime branch of police commissioner busted a gang involved in buying and selling newborn babies and arrested six accused a few days ago. The police identified the accused as Dr Altaf, 33; Vinod Singh, 44; Neeraj Kumar Gautam, 24; Kusum Devi, 45; Santosh Kumari, 32 and Sharma Devi, 50.

The police said the accused had been booked under sections 143(4) (trafficking of persons) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

Gang used to target poor family

A co-accused Santoshi admitted that needy people sell their children for money. She also revealed that she had arranged a deal for a boy for ₹6.5 lakh. She gave ₹6 lakh to the seller.

Another gang member Shyama Kumari, who was arrested by Gudamba police a few days ago, revealed that she had absconded with the newborn baby of a woman who had come to the hospital where she worked. Santoshi further told the police that the gang also bore the expenses of poor pregnant women.