A two-and-a-half-month-old baby was recovered with the arrest of five women and two men, all part of gang which allegedly sold newborns to clients on pretext of giving them for adoption, police said on Monday.
The accused were identified as Bablu Shah, 28, Barkha, 28, Veena, 55, Madhu Sharma, 50, Jyoti, 32, Pawan, 45, and Salmi Devi, age not known, they said.
The arrests were made by a team of crime branches which, acting on a tip-off, laid a trap near an auto stand in Uttam Nagar and arrested four women and a man, who had come to sell the baby boy, a senior police officer said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Vichitra Veer said that based on the information received by ASI (Assistant Sub-Inspector) Jasbir Singh, police contacted one Madhu Sharma, who along with her friend Veena, agreed to provide a baby boy for Rs 6.5 lakh.
A deal was struck with them by a police officer, who posed as a decoy, the DCP said.
"Both Madhu and Veena called Jyoti on phone, who came along with Barkha and Bablu Shah to deliver the baby boy at the designated time and place. All of them accepted the initial amount of Rs 4 lakh and handed over the baby to the decoy customer.
"Our team caught all four women and one man and recovered cash and baby boy from their possession," the officer said.
During the investigation, two more accused, Pawan and Simran, belonging to the same gang, were arrested, he said.
Investigation revealed that Jyoti had been working at an IVF (In vitro fertilization) clinic, where she came in contact with couples who could not have children. That put her within reach of the 'possible clients.' At different points in time, she came in contact with the other accused, all of whom saw an opportunity of making a quick buck selling children to such couples, the officer said.
According to police, Jyoti approached the couples cautiously and sound them out about their needs, and if they showed an interest, she would offer to sell them a baby and promise to take care of all hassles related to the adoption process.
"They knew one Qutabuddin from Jharkhand, who used to arrange and bring newly born babies from his state and hand them over to Simran in Delhi. She would then through several middle-person handover the baby to the concerned client," the DCP said.
A team was also immediately sent to Jharkhand to nab Qutabuddin, but he had already vanished from his location by then, police said, adding that efforts are being made to nab him.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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