Inter-State Baby Trafficking Racket Uncovered

After a high level meeting at the commissionerate here Thursday, 11 special teams have left for Delhi, AP, Haryana, Karnataka, Mumbai and other districts of Telangana.

Meanwhile, four childless couples from AP surrendered before Medipally police along with the babies while seven babies were shifted to Sishu Vihar whose condition is stated to be stable. One of the human traffickers was running a prostitution racket, police said.

Prime accused A Shoba Rani, who was caught red-handed in a sting operation by Akshara Jyothi Foundation, is basically a nurse. She has been into human trafficking for five years. Shoba posed herself as an MBBS surgeon and did several abortions in her clinic `Shoba Rani First Aid Centre,` Akshara Jyothi foundation founder G Anusha told Deccan Chronicle.

“On May 18, when I learnt about Shoba Rani’s involvement in human trafficking, I along with my sisters G Pratyusha, G Vaishanavi and a local scribe, conducted a sting operation to catch Shoba,” Anusha, who earlier worked in an international NGO, said.

We called Shoba on her mobile number 939625649. Pratyusha posed as a childless woman and showed her desperation to buy a baby. Shoba demanded Rs 50,000 as advance but asked us to collect the baby from Vijayawada. We insisted she deliver the baby and take Rs 40,000 more. The deal was struck at Rs 4.50 lakh. The entire conversation was recorded, Anusha said.

Shoba asked us to come at 9 am on May 22 and collect the baby from her clinic. We went there equipped with spy cameras and posted a standby team on the street corner for our safety, Anusha said.

At 9.10am, Shoba called us, saying she has no babies in stock and demanded additional Rs 30,000. On our assurance, she asked us to wait for 40 minutes. A man with a baby came in a white Alto car and Shoba who had procured a girl from Vijayawada came and handed the baby to me along with fake Aadhar cards of a couple, stating that the baby is legal. She said we need to sign an agreement after paying the full amount, Anusha said.

Meanwhile, the man in the Alto grew suspicious and fled with the baby. We rescued the baby girl and dialled 100 and informed woman and child welfare officials. The case was taken up by Medipally police who came and rescued the baby.

One Sai Kumar and his wife Padma of Baptla in AP surrendered before Medipally police on Thursday. “We had no children. On July 12, 2023 we purchased a five-month-old male baby from Anuradha of Vijayawada for Rs 7 lakh," Sai said, adding they have handed over the baby to police.

Police said the inter-state racket could not be detected as the traffickers purchased babies from the needy in northern states and paid them between Rs 20,000 and Rs 40,000. They sold the babies in southern states. Similarly, babies were bought from south and sold in north.

Police said the gang operated in five-six states and sold babies to couples for prices between Rs 8 lakh and Rs12 lakh. Police have formed a Whatsapp group comprising police of five states and have circulated the pictures of rescued babies.

Several couples from AP and other states were seen at Sishu Vihar in Yousufguda who came to claim their missing kids.

Meanwhile, police have collected the DNA samples of the babies to match them with genetic parents to avoid false claims. A team of doctors on Thursday visited Sishu Vihar and checked the health of the rescued babies and claimed their condition is stable.