The West Bengal CID busted a new born trafficking racket in West Bengal earlier this week, which was run by a couple of private nursing home owners with the help of an NGO. As per this news report, 8 people were arrested intitally :
The state CID has unearthed a massive inter-state newborn trafficking racket being carried out by two private clinics in Baduria, North-24 Paraganas, with the help of an NGO for the past three years. Their modus operandi was to target unmarried mothers and impoverished parents, and sell their unwanted newborns to childless couples using fake documents. Sometimes, they even resorted to smuggling babies after duping their mothers into believing they had delivered stillborns. Eight people including two women have been arrested in connection with the racket.
ID and local police raided Baidya Clinic and Sohon Nursing Home in Bagjola locality of Baduria Monday night. Sleuths recovered three newborns, two of which were found hidden in a biscuit carton at Sohon Nursing Home. The third baby was given back to her mother, identified as Sahida Bibi, a resident of Deganga, who had allegedly been told that she had delivered a stillborn.
“The private nursing home has been running an inter-state racket involving trafficking of newborns for the last three years. Those arrested have been identified as Satyajit Sinha, Nazma Bibi, Baikbul Baidya alias Baikbul Sheikh, Utpala Byapari, Prabhat Sarkar, Jhantu Biswas and Asadur Jaman. They all have been nabbed under section 369 (kidnapping or abducting child under 10 years with intent to steal from its person), 370 (trafficking) 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC and 34 of CrPc,” said DIG (CID) B L Meena.
According to sources, the racket was being executed with the help of an NGO called Subodh Memorial Trust, whose owner, Satyajit Sinha, would bring in childless couples under the guise of facilitating adoptions. The main trafficker, Nazma Bibi, wife of Bakbul Baidya who owned Baidya Clinic, used to look after the overall operation of the racket.
“They had a network in Delhi and other states as well. They would mainly target unmarried women and sell their babies. A full-fledged team was part of the racket. A woman called Utpala Byapari, associated with the alleged NGO was the mediator between the nursing home and the client. Prabhat Sarkar, a clerk from Habra with a law degree, used to take care of paperwork. Jhantu Biswas, his associate, would help him prepare fake legal documents. Amirul Biswas is a quack connected with the racket and Asadur Jaman was the owner of the nursing home,” said an official. The accused would charge less for deliveries to lure poor women.
On wednesday, the West Bengal police has arrested 4 more people, police was stunned to find new born babies packed in biscuit cartons. Going by this news report :
Four more persons including a doctor were arrested in connection with an inter-state newborn trafficking racket in Baduria on Wednesday. Eight people had been arrested after a raid on Monday.
“After prolonged interrogation, Dr Santosh Kr Samantha (60), a resident of Jessore Road, and three women were arrested today,” said Bharat Lal Meena DIG (CID).
Dr Samanta, attached to Sri Krishna Nursing Home, was arrested in the evening after being detained for several hours, said police. Parmita Chatterjee, Prabha Parmanik and Putul Banerjee were arrested earlier in the day, said a CID official.
Looks like Kolkata is a hub of child trafficking. Just after the raids were made for nabbing culprits of baby trafficking, 5 minors were rescued from Kolkata airport as per this news report :
A day after a baby trafficking racket was busted in North 24-Parganas’ Baduria, five minors, all residents of Mizoram, were rescued by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) after they were brought to Kolkata on a flight from Aizawl. CISF officers nabbed a person, Nikhil, who was accompanying the minors. They were later handed over to Bidhannagar Police and Nikhil was also arrested.
More details are awaited for this incident.
(Featured Image Credit : Indian Express)
