TUMAKURU, 26 JUNE

The Tumakuru Police on Wednesday busted a child trafficking racket, arresting seven people and rescuing five children who were allegedly sold by the accused to childless couples.

A used car, Rs 50,000 cash and four mobile phones have been seized from the accused.

The matter came to light after a complaint was filed by a couple on 9 June 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. Acting on a tip off, the police arrested the accused Ramakrishna, 53 and Hanamantha Raju, 45 who allegedly kidnapped the infant.

Based on information provided, a third accused Mahesh UD,39 who sold the kidnapped infant to another accused, Mubarak, for Rs 1.75 lakh, was also arrested. The police also detained the 44-year-old Mubarak and rescued the 11-month-old infant.

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. Another accused Mehboob Sharif, 52 who was also involved in the racket used to run a medical facility at Huliyar and worked as a pharmacist at a Primary Health Centre.

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 were also held. The accused created fake birth certificates for the children they sold, police 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 KV, Superintendent of Police (Tumakuru), told PTI. -PTI