Chennai: Cops see organised child-lifting racket

Chennai: Closed circuit TV footage attests involvement of an organised child-lifting racket targeting pavement dwellers, in a baby missing incident reported on February 29 with Flower Bazaar police station. The revelation comes at a time when the city police is struggling without any headway in two such incidents.

The footage, to which DC had access, shows a premium white SUV pulling over at 2.05 am near the pavement where Perumal, a casual labourer, his wife Lakshmi, and their 8-month-old Saranya were sleeping. Another premium SUV would arrive at the spot and would park behind the white SUV while another car also suspected to be part of the racket goes beyond these two and park in the other end of Walltax Road.

The occupants of the two cars parked near the pavement get down and try to lift the baby which was tied to Lakshmi's pallu (a loose end of the saree).  Since the knot was tied in a complex manner, the gang could not untie it in the first attempt. After an hour's ordeal, the gang cut the pallu with a sharp object and walk away with the baby.

The entire episode was recorded in a business centre, which was at least 50 m away from the spot where the racket was operating on Walltax Road. At 3.08 am, both the cars left the spot one after another with the baby. “Had the traffic cameras installed in the next junction worked, the case could have been cracked by this time. Given the quality of the footage, cops could do little to identify the registration plates of the cars involved”, said a senior police official.

The use of premium cars suggests that the gang was into a bigger crime whose horizon might extend beyond illegal adoption. Cops suspect the same racket in the other incident reported a week ago. The couple, Vinod (29) and Metha (22), also pavement dwellers, reported that their eight -month-old-son Rokesh was taken away from the pavement near Burma Bazaar.