Greater Noida: A 10-day-old premature baby girl was rescued by a Child Helpline (1098) team from an alleged illegal adoption racket operating out of a private hospital in Greater Noida West, officials said on Sunday. Four people, including the hospital owner and two staff members, have been detained, and an investigation is underway.
The infant, born at 33 weeks, was abandoned at a private facility in the Bisrakh area earlier this month. She remained at the hospital, where she was allegedly offered for sale under the guise of adoption.
The case surfaced when a man approached the Child Helpline office in Noida after receiving an “offer” for a newborn while searching online for legal adoption procedures. He told officials he was promised a baby for Rs 2.7 lakh along with forged documents, including a birth certificate. Authorities alerted the police and persuaded him to assist in a sting operation.
A joint team comprising the Child Helpline, Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU), Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and Bisrakh police laid a trap. On Saturday evening, the complainant met the suspects near Bisrakh roundabout. Two hospital employees, including a nurse, arrived with the infant, whereupon plainclothes officers intervened and detained them.
Central Noida DCP Shakti Awasthi said the woman carrying the baby was apprehended around 4:30 pm. “During interrogation, the duo allegedly revealed they were acting on instructions from the hospital owner.” Police subsequently detained the owner, identified as Yashika Garg, along with two others — Gajendra, a sanitation worker, and Ranjit, an operation theatre technician.
Police suspect a wider network, with preliminary inputs indicating similar transactions in the past, where infants were allegedly sold for up to Rs 5 lakh. Efforts are underway to trace the baby’s biological parents and ascertain the circumstances of her abandonment, the DCP added. The rescued infant has been shifted to a shelter facility under the CWC and is reported to be stable.