Barasat police bust interstate child trafficking racket; 5 held

Kolkata: In a major success, cops from the Barasat Police District rescued a 14-month-old baby from Telangana and busted an interstate child trafficking racket.

So far, police have arrested five people, including the parents of the child. The two arrested on Sunday from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will be brought to Barasat within two days on transit remand and will be produced at the court.

According to police, on January 26, a complaint was lodged at the Sasan police station by the district Child Development and Protection Officer alleging that a 14-month-old baby had been trafficked by the parents in Andhra Pradesh. Based on the complaint, a case was registered. Police initially interrogated the mother of the child and later detained the father. After a detailed probe, police arrested the parents.

During interrogation police came to know that the child was handed over to a middleman identified as Sonali Saha alias Jasmina Bibi against a good amount of money in September last year.

Immediately, police traced Saha and nabbed her. After interrogating her, the police sent a team to Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, from where a man identified as Shiva Nayek was arrested. After interrogating him, the police came to know that the child was handed over to someone in Telangana.

Later, the police team went to Nalgonda in Telangana, from where the police arrested a man identified as P Ilaia and rescued the baby.

Police also came to know that there were several persons involved in carrying the child from Nayek to Ilaia.