In a shocking revelation, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) dismantled a notorious child trafficking syndicate in the Delhi NCR area, rescuing two newborns. The infants, one merely 15 days old and the other just two days old, were saved as part of a meticulously planned operation carried out on Friday night. The sweep led to the arrest of seven individuals implicated in the illegal sale of newborns to childless couples through social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp.
CBI personnel undertook a series of coordinated raids across seven locations in Delhi and Haryana, uncovering disquieting evidence of the syndicate’s operations. In a special report by Zee News anchor Ram Mohan Sharma in the “DNA” segment, the modus operandi of this malevolent scheme was laid bare, shedding light on how the network functioned in the heart of the nation’s capital.
Acting on a critical tip-off, CBI officers held simultaneous raids at various addresses in Delhi and Haryana late into the night on Friday. The execution of these raids culminated in the rescue of three newborns. The dramatic operation saw seven suspects taken into custody from a residence in Delhi’s Keshavpuram locality. The rescued infants included two boys, aged approximately one and a half days and fifteen days, and a baby girl about a month old. According to sources, these infants had either been abducted from multiple locations or deliberately acquired for sale.
Authorities have confirmed that the individuals arrested in this operation included both the buyers and intermediaries involved in the transactions. Among those apprehended were the conspiracy’s masterminds, identified by the agency as Indu and Neeraj. They are believed to have orchestrated the illicit trade by sourcing infants from hospital settings, including from disadvantaged parents or surrogate mothers, and marketing them to prospective buyers using social media.
The agency divulged that the syndicate had monetized the sale of newborns by generating fake adoption documents to facilitate the transactions. The black market price for these trafficked infants was reported to be between Rs 4 and Rs 6 lakh. Preliminary investigations suggest that the group trafficked around ten infants over the past month, and their operations stretched far beyond the Delhi NCR region.
. Shockingly, the syndicate involved personnel from notable hospitals in various states, demonstrating the extensive reach of the network. The ringleader has been uncovered as a government official, allegedly holding the position of an Assistant Labour Commissioner.
The arrested individuals were promptly presented in court, where seven of the accused were remanded into CBI custody. With these arrests, the investigation has only just begun to unravel the depth and breadth of the network. According to the CBI, the syndicate’s activities had permeated numerous hospitals, and the agency expects to make more arrests shortly. A hospital ward boy is among the culprits already detained as the probe continues to shore up new leads and connections.
In addition, the investigation has unmasked the alarming extent to which this network exploited social media to locate and contact childless couples desperate to adopt. By employing fake documents and fraudulent means, the syndicate made the illegal adoption process appear legitimate, bypassing the stringent legal protocols put in place to protect children and adoptive parents.
The exposure of this child trafficking racket has raised significant concerns about the vulnerabilities within the adoption system and hospital protocols. The role of hospital staff in facilitating these criminal activities has prompted calls for more stringent checks and oversight mechanisms to prevent such exploitation in the future.
The CBI’s ongoing investigation aims to uncover further operatives involved in this nefarious trade. Authorities anticipate that the network may have deeper roots, with potential accomplices spread across different states and high-level institutional complicity yet to be fully unearthed. The public awaits further updates as the agency continues to dismantle this heinous racket, hoping that justice will be swift and comprehensive.
This incident has highlighted the grim reality of child trafficking in urban India, prompting a widespread outcry for reforms and more robust enforcement to curb such criminal enterprises. The government’s response and subsequent policies will be closely watched as they navigate this complex and tragic exposure of human trafficking infiltrating the heart of the nation’s capital.
