Bihar couple arrested for child trafficking in Coimbatore

Coimbatore district (rural) police have arrested a couple from Bihar on charges of abducting two children from their state and allegedly selling them.

M. Maheshkumar, 34, and his wife M. Anjalikumari, 24, from Bihar, who ran a restaurant in Appanaickenpatti near Sulur, were arrested. Police said the couple had been residing in Appanaickenpatti for three years.

According to police, the Coimbatore Child Line alerted them about the couple, after receiving specific information that they were involved in child trafficking.

Officials from the Karumathampatti women's police station arrested the couple on Monday and questioned them.

The couple told police that one of their neighbors from Bihar had run away after abandoning their seven-day-old male baby two years ago. They took care of the child and sold him to Rambabu, a truck driver from Andhra Pradesh.

The couple also claimed to have kidnapped a baby from Bihar and sold it to a couple in Selakarichal near Sulur for ₹2.5 lakh.

Police reached Andhra Pradesh and rescued the two-year-old boy on Monday evening. Another team rescued the second child of a couple in Lakshminaickenpalayam near Coimbatore.

The couple was booked for offenses under sections 370 of the Indian Penal Code and 81 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. They were arrested and sent to pre-trial detention.

The two children were presented to the Child Protection Committee, which transferred them to a children's home. Police said they plan to seek custody of the couple for further investigation.