Hyderabad: The key accused in a child trafficking case, Vandana, who had been on the run has been arrested at her hideout in Ahmedabad.
She is accused of supplying children to Kola Krishnaveni, who has already been taken into custody.
According to reports, Vandana’s methods included abducting children from hospitals, taking them from rag-pickers on the streets, or enticing impoverished families to sell their children for sums of Rs 3.5 lakh for a boy and Rs 2.5 lakh for a girl.
Once in her possession, she would hand the children over to Krishnaveni, who would then pass them on to Savitri. Then, Krishnaveni and Savitri would place the children with childless couples who made advance payments.
Hyderabad police expect that further details about the operation, its network, and other individuals involved will emerge once they secure the custody of Vandana and Krishnaveni.
The police have approached the court to obtain their custody.
Further investigation is ongoing.
Hyderabad police bust interstate child trafficking racket
On February 25, 11 individuals involved in an interstate child trafficking racket were apprehended by the Special Operations Team (SOT) Malkajgiri, along with the Hyderabad police.
The first infant, a girl, was sold on January 28, the second girl on February 4, a boy on February 12 and finally the last boy on February 25. The last transaction, however, was intercepted by police at Chaitanyapuri bus stop at 6:00 am, leading to the arrests.
The previous three infants had been sold to different people in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for an amount of Rs 2-3 lakh per girl and Rs 4-5 lakh per boy. During the investigation, the accused confessed to the crime, revealing Deepthi’s presence with the other three infants.
During the investigation, the accused confessed that they were yet to receive the full payment for the children and had called the buyers under the pretext of providing birth and adoption certificates.
Hyderabad police have also arrested five individuals who had purchased infants. Ogati Naga Venkata Pavan Bhagavan and his wife, Oguti Rama Sravani, from Sakhamuri Shivaiah Street, Currency Nagar, Vijayawada, had bought the first girl. Teppala Vinay Kumar and his wife, Teppala Swathi, from Saidabad Colony, had purchased the second girl. Lingala Ramesh from Santosh Nagar Colony, Keesamudram, Mahabubabad district, had bought one of the boys.
The accused have been booked under Section 143 (4)(5) read with Section 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 80, 81, 87, and 88 of the Juvenile Justice Act.
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