New Delhi: Five infants, aged between five days and four months, were rescued after Delhi Police busted an inter-state child trafficking racket following a 15-day operation. Thirteen people, including a doctor, alleged traffickers, middlemen and buyers, have been arrested.Cops suspect nearly 30 infants may have been trafficked. Police probe revealed the role of Dr Viveki, owner of Hira’s Multispeciality Hospital in Rohini’s Begum Pur, who allegedly sheltered trafficked infants and identified prospective buyers among childless couples seeking fertility treatment.The racket came to light after a tip-off from a good Samaritan, who noticed a woman carrying an infant that later disappeared in central Delhi’s Paharganj. About 10-15 days later, he spotted the same woman with another baby, raising suspicion and prompting him to alert police.Acting on the input, cops tracked the woman, identified as Jyoti alias Kamlesh. To gather evidence, a male and female officer posed as decoy customers and established contact. Jyoti agreed to sell a male infant for Rs 5 lakh and took Rs 20,000 as token money. She asked them to meet near RK Ashram metro station on June 5 for the delivery. At the spot, police rescued the four-five-day-old infant and arrested Jyoti, allegedly the main coordinator. She led them to her alleged associates – Shalu, who handled supply and Lalit who monitored transactions.DCP (Central) Rohit Rajbir Singh said the arrests led investigators to uncover a wider trafficking network. During the probe, police found that Jyoti was in contact with Saybabhai Ghamar alias Kalia, the alleged main supplier who procured infants from Rajasthan.Further investigation revealed that the syndicate operated through a well-organised network of suppliers, mediators, transporters, facilitators and buyers. Police are also probing claims that some infants were procured for as little as Rs 20,000 and later sold for up to Rs 8.5 lakh. Investigators said male infants were typically bought for Rs 1.5-2 lakh and sold for Rs 6-8 lakh. In some cases, deals fetched as high as Rs 9 lakh.The infants were allegedly sourced from different states and brought to Delhi, where they were concealed, medically attended and prepared for illegal transfer. At Dr Viveki’s medical facility, forged hospital, delivery and birth records were allegedly arranged to establish false parentage and facilitate illegal adoptions.There was no immediate response from the contact number listed on the hospital’s website. Police plan to write to Delhi Medical Council about the alleged irregularities and to seek further details about the facility.Police also arrested Vipin, a driver who allegedly facilitated the movement of infants, and Pratibha, a freelance lab technician linked to the hospital, who allegedly played an active role in procuring and selling infants. They were arrested while they on their way to arrange another child, police said, adding Rs 2.9 lakh was recovered from them.Other suspects include Omwati, a domestic worker in Gurgaon, arrested for allegedly acting as a mediator. Kalia, the alleged supplier, was traced and arrested in Gujarat on June 17 by a team led by inspector Sandeep Yadav under the supervision of ACP (operations) Padam Singh Rana. The suspects were arrested from Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.Police also arrested several alleged buyers, including a Gwalior-based couple, Mukesh and Reema Pal, accused of purchasing two trafficked infants, and a Panipat-based couple, Sunny and Ritu Arora, who allegedly bought one infant. Sarika (38), a resident of Haryana’s Panipat, was arrested for allegedly purchasing a trafficked child.While one four-month-old male infant was rescued from Panipat, two 27-day-old infants — one male and one female — were rescued from MP’s Gwalior. Four of them are tribal babies and one is from Delhi.Inquiry revealed Jyoti had earlier been arrested in a trafficking and Pocso case registered at Punjabi Bagh police station.
