NEW DELHI: It was an eagle-eyed local’s tip that helped crack what was a well-oiled trafficking machinery. He spotted a woman with an infant in Paharganj. Two weeks later, when he saw her carrying a different baby, he alerted police.Delhi Police soon busted an inter-state child trafficking racket and rescued five infants in an operation spanning 15 days. Thirteen people, including a doctor and the alleged main trafficker, have been arrested. Police suspect nearly 30 infants may have been trafficked.Among those arrested was Dr Viveki, the owner of Hira Multi Speciality Hospital at Begum Pur in Rohini, police said. She allegedly staged fake hospitalisations to convince relatives of couples purchasing trafficked children that the women were in labour, and to complete the deception with a paper trail. Police said she prepared fake records and treatment histories, and forged delivery papers to establish false parentage. Once the paperwork was in place, the infants were given to couples as if they were their biological children.Fake pregnancy, forged documents, shady deals: How racket operatedThe racket had its roots in Rajasthan and Gujarat, with traffickers zeroing in on pregnant women who would be delivering in a few months. Once deals were struck in Delhi, gang members would contact brokers operating in remote tribal belts. These brokers targeted poor families, who, driven by desperation and financial distress, were allegedly persuaded to part with their newborns in exchange for money.Another part of the network focused on finding buyers. The probe revealed that gang members regularly visited IVF centres and fertility clinics across Delhi-NCR to identify couples desperate to have children. These couples were allegedly approached and offered infants, along with tutorial on deception.Couples who agreed to buy the infants would lie to their families, claiming they were expecting a child. The women would tell their families that they were required to stay near a hospital in Delhi where their condition would be monitored throughout.As the fabricated due dates approached, the women would move to Hira Multi Speciality Hospital for a few days.Police said that when the time of delivery neared, members of the network would travel to remote areas, collect the newborns from vulnerable families, and transport them to Delhi, where they were sold to waiting couples for hefty sums.During the crackdown, police rescued five infants, including a baby girl. Officers said the girl had been abandoned at the facility after birth and was being offered for sale at a lower price than male infants.Police have so far arrested two childless couples in connection with the case — Mukesh and Reema Pal, residents of Gwalior, and Sunny Arora, a businessman, along with his wife Ritu Arora from Panipat. Another accused, Sarika, who also runs a business, has also been taken into custody.A senior police officer said the couples were fully aware that the infants were being procured illegally, yet willingly participated in the racket and went ahead with the purchases. Further investigation is under way to trace more buyers and uncover the full scale of the network.
