Mumbai: BHMS doctor among 7 held in child trafficking racket

Mumbai: The Mumbai police have busted an interstate child trafficking racket and arrested seven persons including a BHMS (Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery) doctor who were allegedly involved in a child trafficking case.     

The crime branch on Saturday arrested the accused, Dr Sopanrao Khandare, Vanadana Amit Pawar (28), Sheetal Ganesh Vare (41), Sneha Suryavanshi (24), Naseema Haneef Khan (28), Lata Survaade (36) and Sharad Maruti Devar (45), the official said. 

According to a PTI report, the police had received a tip-off that Vare, a resident of Vikhroli, had allegedly sold a five-month-old baby for Rs 2 lakh, official said.

The BHMS doctor was identified as Dr Sanjay Khandare, a resident of Parbhani districta who runs a small hospital in the Thane area. 

Police said that they received information on April 27 that a woman, a Vikhroli resident, had allegedly sold her son on December 13, 2022, to Sheetal Ware for Rs two lakh. A case was registered with the Vikhroli police station. Later, Ware and other accused, all from the same gang, were arrested, FPJ reported.

The baby was later rescued from Guhagar in Ratnagiri, he said.

Investigations revealed that the accused had also sold a two-year-old girl, and she has also been rescued, the official said.

The gang was also allegedly involved in trafficking children in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, he said.

As per a media report in HT, The persons who bought the 14 children have been traced and their roles are being verified, said police. “We have obtained details of nine out of the 14 children, and several police teams are working to verify and rescue them,” said deputy commissioner of police Ragasudha R from the crime branch. He said that most children were sold to childless couples in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for prices ranging ₹80,000 to ₹4 lakh. “The two rescued children were sold for ₹2.5 lakh and ₹2 lakh respectively, while details of the other children are being probed,” said Ragasudha

A case has been registered under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and Indian Penal Code, the official said.