New Delhi: The abduction of a seven-month-old boy from the Mathura railway station a week ago has lifted the lid off a thriving child-trafficking racket that has netted eight people so far, including a BJP leader and two doctors.
Baby Sanjai was sleeping on a platform with his mother on 24 August when he was abducted. He was found 100 kilometres away in Firozabad this Monday, in the house of BJP corporator Vinita Agrawal.
Agrawal, 49, and her husband Krishna Murari, 51, allegedly “bought” the child for Rs 1.8 lakh from traffickers. A senior police officer told ThePrint that the couple – who have since been arrested – were not aware the boy was stolen.
The couple has a 12-year-old daughter, but “bought” Sanjai because they wanted a male child, the police said in a statement.
Mathura police officer Sushil Kumar told ThePrint: “The man who abducted the child, Deep Kumar, was associated with a gang that includes two doctors who ran a hospital in neighbouring Hathras district. The hospital dealt in selling children they would kidnap or infants that unwed girls would drop off.”
Doctors Prem Behari and his wife Dayawati, both 38, used their medical facility Bankey Behari Hospital as a front for this illegal operation. They were arrested along with their four associates – Deep Kumar (40), Poonam (43), Manjeet (43) and Vimlesh (38). A total of eight people have been arrested so far, including the BJP leader and her husband.
Sanjai was sleeping next to his mother on Platform 8 of the Mathura Junction railway station when he was kidnapped. He was stealthily picked up by a man, as seen in the station’s CCTV footage.
“Clips and stills from the CCTV footage, identifying the man, were made viral on social media and shared everywhere,” the Mathura officer said, adding that the police formed six teams to nab the culprits.
ये व्यक्ति रे०स्टेशन मथुरा जं० से अपनी माँ के साथ सो रहे महज 7 माह के बच्चे को उठाकर ले गया।
इस व्यक्ति को पकड़वाने में मदद कीजिये।
आप सिर्फ Retweet कर इसके फ़ोटो/वीडियो को Groups में share कर दीजिये, विशेष कर कासगंज, बदायूँ और बरेली साइड में।
मुझे भरोसा है ये अवश्य पकड़ा जाएगा। pic.twitter.com/fTnuGbSlsi— SACHIN KAUSHIK (@upcopsachin) August 27, 2022
Sushik Kumar said accused Deep was seen at the Mathura Chhawani Railway Station a few days after Sanjai’s abduction. “A railway staff clicked him and sent the photo to me for confirmation. We immediately caught Deep,” Kumar said.
Details about the trafficking racket tumbled out after sustained interrogation of the accused, the officer said. “Deep Kumar led us to his associates,” Kumar added. The police also seized wads of Rs 500 notes from him.
Meanwhile, Sanjai was handed over to his mother the same day he was rescued. The boy and his mother Radha are from Parkham village, 20 kilometres from Mathura.
Also read: Child stolen from Mathura railway station recovered, BJP corporator among eight held
Source: The Print
