Ghaziabad: Police busted a gang of human traffickers and rescued an infant in Tronica City on Wednesday. Twelve accused were arrested from the spot, and the 11-day-old infant was reunited with her family.According to DCP (rural) Surendra Nath Tiwari, complainant Hina told cops on May 26 that a woman named Puja had taken her newborn infant from their home and given the child to a man named Monu alias Manoj.An FIR was registered under BNS sections 137(2) (kidnapping), 3(5) (common intention) at Tronica City police station, and teams were formed to rescue the infant and trace the accused.On Tuesday, based on manual input, CCTV footage, informer network and surveillance, cops busted the human trafficking gang. Cops also seized three cars, and counterfeit currency notes worth Rs 2 lakh 90 thousand were recovered from their possession.BNS sections 179 (theft), 143(4) (trafficking of person), 61 (criminal conspiracy) were also added to the FIR.The arrested accused are Sunil Kumar (36), his wife Krishna Devi (34), Sanjay Kumar (36), Rajendra Singh (36), Pawan Kumar (28), Manoj Prakash alias Monu (28), Vineet Kumar (34), his wife Rabiya (33), Jyoti (33), Puja (39), Farmina (37), and Kumkum (24).Rabiya told cops that Hina is her sister-in-law. She coaxed Hina to agree to sell her newborn while she was still pregnant. She later spoke to Monu and Puja, who allegedly run the trafficking network, who agreed to buy the infant for Rs 2 lakh. After the baby girl was born on May 23, however, Hina had second thoughts and backed out of the deal.When Rabiya told Monu, he said that he had already made arrangements for the infant to be sold ahead and pressured Rabiya to bring the newborn to him by any means. Rabiya subsequently kidnapped the infant and gave her away.Police found that the accused had arranged to sell the girl to a couple in Andhra Pradesh through several accused who are absconding. The accused previously sold several children to people in Andhra Pradesh, cops said.The accused were all meeting at a secluded spot near a temple in Tronica City to complete the exchange on Wednesday, when cops busted the operation.“When questioned about the counterfeit notes, it was stated that the accused used these counterfeit notes to purchase children. The accused would use the fake money to purchase children. By the time the buyers would realise the money was fake, the child would be gone and they would have no way of filing a complaint as the counterfeit money was obtained during a crime. When questioned about the recovered vehicles, the accused said they use these vehicles interchangeably for trafficking abducted children so that no one can identify them,” the DCP added.
