Himachal: 6 held in infant trafficking case, total 9 arrested
Dharamshala (PTI): The Himahcal Pradesh Police has nabbed six members of an inter-state gang involved in trafficking newborn, taking the total number of arrests in the case to nine, officials said on Tuesday.
Of the total arrested, seven are women, they said, adding that gang used to get infants through illegal means and give them to childless couples in exchange for money.
On February 21, the Dehra Police had busted a gang and rescued a minor following a complaint lodged by Kangra resident Rohit Rana on February 17 in which he alleged that a person named Deepak Anand had cheated him of Rs 23,500 on the pretext of arranging the adoption of a newborn. An FIR was immediately registered.
Deepak Anand (40), a native of Punjab's Jalandhar who lived in Kangra, was arrested and produced before the court. He was remanded to five days' police custody, according to superintendent of Police (SP) Dehra Mayank Choudhary.
Investigation revealed that Deepak was working as an agent for a Punjab-based gang involved in trafficking of babies. He used to identify and contact childless couples and connect them with gang members operating from Punjab.
Subsequently, two women -- Maninderjit Kaur alias Ritu (47), and Anita alias Asha (59) -- were nabbed from Batala and Jalandhar and remanded to three days' police custody.
Financial scrutiny revealed transactions amounting to Rs 4.85 lakh in connection with the illegal deal. A minor was also recovered and as per orders of the Juvenile Justice Board, the child has been handed over to the Special Adoption Agency for care, protection and further legal proceedings, the police said.
The police constituted special investigation teams and carried out an intensive probe, examining technical evidence and financial trails and six more persons were arrested from various locations in Punjab on Monday, Choudhary added.
The six arrested are Neelam Singh (54), Rimpi (38), Jasmel Kaur (60), Karamjit Kaur alias (34), all from Bathinda in Punjab, Kiran (30) from Sirsa in Haryana and Kulwinder (45) from Jalandhar in Punjab.
All accused are being produced before the competent court, investigations are underway and further disclosures are expected as interrogation continues, the police added.
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Three dead after drinking country liquor in Meerut, police initiate probe
Meerut (UP) (PTI): Three people died under suspicious circumstances after consuming country liquor in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Preliminary probe has not confirmed if they died due to the quality of alcohol, officials said on Saturday.
All three vomited and had abdominal pain after drinking the liquor on Friday evening and were rushed to a hospital where they were declared dead. A post-mortem will determine the exact cause of death, they said.
According to the police, Baburam (60), a grocery shop owner, Jitendra (35), who worked at his shop and Ankit alias Daulat (40), purchased liquor in the evening from a government-authorised country liquor outlet and began drinking at the spot.
Shortly after drinking the liquor, the health of all three deteriorated, and they began complaining of vomiting and abdominal pain.
The three were rushed to a private hospital, where doctors declared Jitendra and Ankit dead, while Baburam passed away during treatment.
Additional Director General (ADG) of Police for the Meerut Zone, Bhanu Bhaskar, District Magistrate VK Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Avinash Pandey, and District Excise Officer Pradeep Kumar reached the spot and initiated an investigation.
SSP Avinash Pandey said that preliminary investigations have not confirmed whether the liquor was "toxic or expired". The bottling date was found to be February 11, 2026, and other bottles from the same batch received no such complaints.
He added that a post-mortem will determine the exact cause of death. Personnel from the Health, Forensic, Surveillance, and Intelligence teams have been constituted to investigate the matter.
Following the incident, the family members created a ruckus at the hospital. Police said further action would be taken based on the findings of the investigation.
