Mumbai Crime Branch Books 8 People Including Lab Technician for Selling Newborn Babies

Mumbai: The crime branch in Mumbai has taken 8 people into custody, who used to work as a baby-selling racket. Initial investigations revealed that the gang has sold 4 babies in the last 6 months, though the crime branch officials suspect the number to be higher.

According to the reports, the accused people used to target mothers from weaker economic class, by smoothing the path of giving away their babies for ‘adoption’ for an amount of money which could mean a lot to a mother from a weaker economic class – Rs. 1.5 lakh for a new-born boy and Rs. 60,000 for a new-born girl. 

Those who are accused and have been arrested by the CCB, are – Arti Singh (lab technician), Rukhshar Shaikh (agent), Rupali Verma (agent), Heena Khan (sub-agent), Nisha Ahire (sub-agent), Geetanjali Gaikwad, Sanjay Padam, and Shahjahan Jogikar.

The mobile phones of the accused gang were seized, from which the police hope to trace the babies that have been sold to families around Mumbai and Pune. The police are currently working on retrieving the call detail records, WhatsApp chats, and photographs from the phones.

Each of the busted rackets has been charged under the Indian Penal Code sections human trafficking along with the Juvenile Justice Act.