Three months after the rescue, the ordeal of 9 children is still not over as Mumbai police is still unable to trace their biological parents

Three months after Mumbai police busted an illegal child trafficking ring, the ordeal of the nine rescued children is far from over.

Two of them are staying at the Bal Asha Trust, an adoption agency and children's home, and the rest are being looked after by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).

Police have only managed to identify the biological parents of two children so far. They have been referred back to the state adoption agency.

A police source said the accused had created false identities for the children's biological parents, making it difficult to find them.

Authorities have confirmed that they have located the biological parent of one of the children rescued in Hyderabad. He will soon be brought to Mumbai for questioning.

Meanwhile, police are continuing their investigations to find other children and their biological parents. Authorities are expected to file charges against 35 arrested defendants.

According to the Mumbai crime branch, they received information that a woman had sold her child through Sheetal Ware, one of the accused. Ware sold the child to a family in Ratnagiri for Rs 2 lakh. She was able to do this with the help of Sharad Maroti Devar, Dr Sanjay Khandare and Vandana Pawar.

Further investigation revealed that Ware had received Rs 20,000 in this transaction. Devar, who was acting as a middleman, worked for the donor of Dhanashri Fertility Agency and hence knew Dr Khandare. Khandare introduced him to Pawar whose relative needed a child. In this sale, Khandare received Rs 50,000.

After this, the police rescued nine children and arrested 35 people. Police sources also confirmed that most of the “targeted” places from where the children, “even kidnapped”, are from Telangana, Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam, where the parents are assured of getting huge sums (over Rs 2.5 lakhs, up to Rs 5 lakhs per child) in return.

Published on: Wednesday, July 3, 2024, 07:00 IST