CHENNAI: The Chennai police on Tuesday said they had uncovered what appeared to be a countrywide child trafficking racket, following the arrest of two couples, from Ghaziabad and Delhi, for the 2017 sale of a child to a 30-yearold woman in Chennai.
Investigators said Ricky Varma, 35, and his wife Komal Varma, 33, of Crossings Republik, Ghaziabad, and
Amit Sharma, 33, and his wife Jaya Sharma, 29, of East Rohtas Nagar, Delhi, had admitted to selling the Sharmas’ son for ?50,000 to Padmini, of Chetpet, Chennai, when the child was less than three weeks old.
“During questioning, the couple confessed to selling three other infants to childless couples in Delhi for between ?50,000 and ?2 lakh per child,” an investigating officer said.
“After the Sharmas sold their son to Padmini, they joined the Varmas’ child trafficking racket.”
The couples targeted children born out of wedlock in hospitals in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and
Madhya Pradesh, investigators said. After their sources informed them of the birth of such children, the Varmas would hurry to the hospital, finagle a deal with the mother and sell the infant to a couple looking to adopt a child. “We suspect that they could have been involved in more cases, apart from the four we are aware of,” the officer said.
Plaint by city lawyer, on wife faking pregnancy, led cops to child racket
Investigators apprehended the four suspects on a complaint to the Kilpauk all-women police station by Padmini’s husband, S
Yogesh Kumar, a lawyer, who suspected that his wife had faked pregnancy and lied to him that she had given birth to a boy.
The Investigation Unit on Crime Against Women (IUCAW) took up the probe after the lawyer petitioned the Madras high court abouttheKilpauk all-women police and, later, the
Egmore all-women police, making little headway in the investigation after his complaint of February 9, 2017. The court transferred the case to the special unit, which probes crimes against women, including human trafficking.
Additional deputy commissioner of police C Shymala Devi, whoheadsIUCAW,Chennai,said Padmini had been under pressure from her husband’s parents to have a child.
“So Padmini claimed that she was pregnant and purchased Amit and Jaya Sharma’s son through the Varmas,” Shymala Devi said. “We tracked the suspects with help from
Child Welfare Committee members who informedus about peoplein Ghaziabad believed to be involved in the sale of babies with fake adoption documents.”
“We found documents in a Ghaziabad sub-registrar’s office that showed one couple giving up babies in adoption in two instances in 2017,” she said.
Investigators tracked down Ricky and Komal Varma and discovered that when they met the Sharmas, Jaya Sharma was pregnant with a third child. The couple made a deal with the Varmas to sell the baby because they could not affordtocarefor another child.
“Komal Varma contacted Padmini, who had declared her intent to adopt a child on a website for adoptive parents,” Shymala Devi said. A court granted Padmini anticipatory bail after the police confirmed that pressure to have a child led to her involvement with the child trafficking suspects.
Yogesh Kumar and Padmini married in 2016, the police said. Within two months, Padmini claimed to be pregnant. She then moved to her parents’ home in Egmore and continued with the charade of being pregnant.
“On January 11, 2017, Padmini told
Yogesh that she had delivered a boy atGovernmentHospital for Women & Children, Egmore,” an officer said. “But even before her husband could leave for the hospital, Padmini returned home with the child.”
Yogesh told TOI that he suspected that Padmini had been lying about being pregnant and took her to a hospital, where doctors examined her and confirmed his hunch. “The doctors stated that Padmini had not been pregnant,” Yogesh said.
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