Child trafficking racket busted in Karnataka with arrest of seven; five children rescued
Tumakuru (Karnataka), Jun 26: The Karnataka Police busted a child trafficking racket, arresting seven persons and rescuing five children who were allegedly sold by the accused to childless couples, officials said on Wednesday.
The matter came to light after a complaint was filed by a couple on June 9 alleging that their 11-month-old infant was allegedly kidnapped by some miscreants at night while they were asleep at their home in Gubbi taluk here, they said.
A special team was constituted to rescue the kidnapped child and, acting on a tip off, accused Ramakrishna (53) and his accomplice Hanamantha Raju (45) who allegedly kidnapped the infant were arrested.
Based on information provided by them, a third accused Mahesh UD (39) who was previously working as a staff nurse at a government hospital in Kunigal was arrested. The accused allegedly sold the kidnapped infant to another accused, Mubarak, for Rs 1.75 lakh, a senior police officer said.
Subsequently, 44-year-old Mubarak was also arrested and the kidnapped 11-month-old infant was rescued by the police, he said.
Investigation has revealed that Mahesh used to find women who got pregnant out of wedlock and illicit relationships. He then got the children from such women and sold them to childless couples for a price of Rs two-three lakh per child, he added.
Another accused Mehboob Sharif (52) who was also involved in the racket used to run a medical facility in the name of his wife at Huliyar and worked as a pharmacist at a Primary Health Centre, the police official said.
"Out of the nine children sold by the accused, five children have been rescued and one was found dead. Out of the rescued, one of them has been reunited with his family while the remaining four rescued children are currently at an adoption centre on the orders of the Child Welfare Committee," Ashok K V, Superintendent of Police (Tumakuru), told PTI.
Another accused, Poornima (39), who was a contract worker at a Primary Health Centre, and Soujanya (48), who was a staff nurse at a hospital, allegedly cooperated in selling the infants. They have also been arrested in the case, police said.
A used car, Rs 50,000 cash and four mobile phones have been seized from the accused, they said.
The accused created fake birth certificates for the children they sold, police said, adding that further investigation is underway.
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EC-TMC meet ends on bitter note; CEC asks TMC delegation to 'get lost', MP accused of 'shouting'
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New Delhi (PTI): The meeting between a Trinamool Congress delegation and the full bench of the Election Commission on Wednesday culminated on an acrimonious note, with the TMC saying the panel's chief asked them to "get lost" at the end of the seven-minute meeting, while the EC accused them of "shouting".
After the meeting, TMC's Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien told mediapersons that they handed over letters from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, and also apprised him of specific instances of poll officials having links with the BJP.
"Then he said, 'Get lost'. We have done eight to nine meetings with the Election Commission. Apart from the CEC, none of the other election commissioners spoke," O'Brien said.
"While we were walking out, one of my colleagues congratulated Gyanesh Kumar for being the only CEC to have notices moved in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for his removal," O'Brien MP said.
Meanwhile, sources in the Election Commission said the poll panel chief gave a "straight talk" to TMC leaders.
They accused O'Brien of shouting at the election commissioners and alleged that he asked the CEC not to speak.
The EC sources further said the elections in West Bengal would be "fear-free, violence-free, intimidation-free, and inducement-free."
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