CBI cracks global child trafficking ring

The CBI claims to have cracked an international racket in child trafficking with the arrest of two Delhi-based businessmen earlier this week. Sumit Saxena reports.

The CBI claims to have cracked an international racket in child trafficking with the arrest of two Delhi-based businessmen earlier this week.

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The men had twice applied for passports for two children aged 17 and 16, claiming these were their own children, which they weren't.

The CBI's counsel claimed in court that Manohar Lal, resident of Paschim Vihar and Tarsen Bansal, belonging to Adarsh Nagar, had been active in smuggling minor children to foreign countries for several years.

"There is material to indicate that both the accused persons applied for passports for two children on the basis of forged documents," he said.

Seeking custodial interrogation of both men, the CBI's counsel said the arrests were just the tip of the iceberg. "This will unearth the racket of minor children being trafficked from the country," he said.

Lal and Bansal had twice applied for passport for the two children, but their applications were rejected as documents enclosed were found forged.

The regional passport officer detected the fraud. He immediately summoned the two men and their wives to his office, asking them to bring along all the documentation. They never turned up.