Human trafficking racket kingpin held in Karnataka

MUMBAI: The Matunga police arrested a 52-year-old man operating a trafficking gang, who is the main accused in a baby selling racket case

MUMBAI: The Matunga police arrested a 52-year-old man operating a trafficking gang, who is the main accused in a baby selling racket case. HT had reported on Tuesday about 32-year-old Manisha Yadav from Dadar, who sold her baby girl for money to bail her husband. Besides this baby, the accused has allegedly sold four more infants– two boys and two girls, over the last three years.

Human trafficking racket kingpin held in Karnataka

The police said the accused, Abdulkarim Dastagir Nadaf, is a resident of Hukkeri in Belagavi district, Karnataka. He is the 10th arrest in the case. Apart from Yadav, eight others were arrested, including the parents who bought Yadav’s baby and middlemen.

“Most of the people arrested were women who acted as middleman in the case. Their job was to search for needy mothers, convince them to sell their baby for money. They were arrested in Ulhasnagar, Surat and Vadodara. The four children were sold to various childless couples in Karnataka,” said the police officer.

Yadav’s baby was rescued from Karnataka following a complaint filed by her mother-in-law Pramila Pawar. Her baby was sold for ₹4 lakh, but she got only ₹1.5 lakh, and the remaining sum was taken by middleman. “We have learnt so far about the sale of four more children, all aged between 45 to 60 days. Two babies are from Gujarat, one from Aurangabad and one from Pune. Each baby was bought for ₹3 to ₹4 lakhs,” said a police officer.

A case was registered under sections 143 (trafficking of person) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, and under various sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

The police have found the role of more people in the case and a team under deputy commissioner of police Ragasudha has been investigating the matter.