Bengaluru child trafficking: Doctors, hospitals, IVF centres may have been involved in interstate racket, say police

The police suspect that over 10 infants have been sold by the gang till now to childless couples.

While the investigations into the child trafficking case in Bengaluru has led to the arrest of three more people in the city, the police have stumbled upon details of an organised crime and said doctors, hospitals and IVF centres may have been a part of the interstate racket.

The police suspect that over 10 infants have been sold by the gang till now to childless couples.

According to the police, a newborn girl used to be sold at Rs 4-5 lakh while a male child fetched Rs 8-10 lakh. Prices dropped for infants of darker complexions.

Among the three new arrestees are Suhasini, Radha and Gomathi, all residents of Erode in Tamil Nadu. The police had earlier arrested Mahalakshmi, Kannan Ramaswamy, Hemalatha, Murugeshwari and Saranya.

Bengaluru city police commissioner B Dayananda Tuesday said that four hospitals are involved in the racket and three have been already shut by the police. “We suspect that some of the doctors and the hospital staff were also involved in the crime,” Dayananda said.

On November 24, based on a tip-off, the officers of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) had arrested the accused in Bengaluru’s Rajarajeshwari Nagar. They were allegedly trying to sell a 20-day-old baby to a childless couple in return for a hefty amount of money.

A police officer said that a deal was made at Rs 8 lakh and the biological parents of the child were to get Rs 2 lakh.

A police officer said that the accused women had previously sold the eggs of other women for Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000. They used to lure poor women to sell their eggs in return for commissions.

The police have also laid hands on information regarding illegal surrogacies and baby selling rackets in Tamil Nadu.

During the interrogation, the accused said that they did it for money as they were facing financial problems. Asked how they contacted the parents, the accused said they have sources in the hospitals and IVF centres in both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The police also came to know that the doctors helped them get illegal birth certificates.

Their targets include poor pregnant women who are unable to take care of their children or those who approached the hospitals for abortion and also parents who wanted children.