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Child Trafficking Ring Busted in Tumkur
Bengaluru: Tumkur district police arrest seven individuals in a child trafficking ring, rescue five children. Accused include Mahesh UD, Mahbub Sharif, and KN Ramakrishnappa.
Bengaluru: Tumkur district has arrested seven individuals in connection with a child trafficking ring. Five children who had been sold have also been rescued, police said on Wednesday.
The accused have been identified as Mahesh UD, Mahbub Sharif, KN Ramakrishnappa, Hanumantharaju, Mubarak Pasha, Purnima, and Saujanya, according to police reports.
The case came to light following a complaint filed on June 9 at the Gopi police station regarding the abduction of an 11-month-old child near Anthapura in Gubbi taluk. A special police team was formed to investigate the abduction of the child, who was sleeping with his family near a temple.
Initial arrests included Ramakrishnappa from Gubbi taluk Bikkegudda in and Hanumantaraju from Bharati Nagar in Tumkur town, and they were charged with child theft. Their interrogation led to the arrest of Mahesh UD, a resident of Ashoka Nagar and former staff nurse at Kunigal Government Hospital.
“All the arrests were followed by clues from the accused received during interrogation,” Tumkur district superintendent of police, KV Ashok told HT. “Initially, we registered a case of kidnapping at Gubbi police station and later charged the accused with various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 369 (kidnapping of children) and 370 (human trafficking). The investigation is ongoing.”
Further investigation revealed that the accused had sold the abducted child to Mubarak Pasha of Bellur Cross for ₹1.75 lakh. The police subsequently arrested Mubarak and rescued the child. During questioning, it emerged that Mahesh had been targeting vulnerable women, including those with unplanned pregnancies or from illicit relationships, by acquiring their babies and selling them to childless couples for ₹2-3 lakh.
Mahbub Sharif of Huliyar, who runs a private hospital under his wife’s name, was also implicated in the scheme. Sharif, who earlier worked as a pharmacist in a PHC in Goobe village, allegedly collaborated in these illegal activities.
Of the nine children reportedly sold by the accused, police have successfully rescued five.
Police also reported that one child has died, while another was returned to their parents. The remaining children have been placed in an adoption centre as per orders from the district child welfare committee.
Police have also seized a Maruti 800 car, ₹50,000 in cash, and four mobile phones from the accused.
