Police hand over the baby to his mother in Mathura, Monday. (PTI)TWO days after the Government Railway Police (GRP) arrested a doctor couple and six others, including a BJP corporator and her husband, in a child theft case, police have filed a cheating case against the doctors in Hathras where they operate two hospitals. The doctor couple — Dr Prem Bihari (38) and Dr Dayawati (38) — have been booked under IPC section 420 (cheating), and for allegedly violating norms under the Indian Medical Council Act.
The Hathras district administration has also seized their two hospitals.
Police suspect that six of the eight people arrested in the theft of a seven-year-old boy from a Mathura railway junction on August 24, were running a racket of stealing and selling kids. While BJP’s Firozabad corporator Vineeta Agarwal (44) and her husband Krishna Murari Agarwal (51) had allegedly bought the stolen kid, the other six – the doctor couple, two auxiliary nurse midwives and two others – were involved in running the child theft racket, police said.
On August 29, Chief Medical Officer (Hathras) Dr Manjeet Singh inspected the two hospitals run by the doctor couple and reported alleged violations of the Indian Medical Act there. “In both the hospitals, we found that norms were being violated. While the hospitals had permission for conducting normal delivery, we found that cesarean delivery was also being done there,” said a senior official.
According to sources, the hospital at Nawal Nagar had 10 beds, while it had permission for four beds. “At their second hospital at Hathras Junction, three of the seven patients had undergone cesarean delivery. Despite permission for five beds, the inspection team found 12 beds in the hospital,” said the official. “The two hospitals have been seized and an FIR has been lodged against the couple, who were running the hospital,” said CMO Dr Manjeet Singh.
Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police (GRP, Agra) Mohammad Mustaque has formed a seven-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police-rank officer, to probe the case. The Railway Police has also moved the court seeking the custody of the arrested accused for interrogation.
Police said that during the preliminary inquiry, it came to light that the doctor couple were running the child trafficking racket for several years. The gang used to steal babies from different areas and sell them to childless couples. The racket appeared to be spread in several districts of the state, police said. “We needed to verify the information that has come up during the investigation. Human Trafficking Act has also been invoked against the eight arrested accused.
On August 24, an FIR was registered against unknown persons after a seven-month-old baby went missing from a railway station platform in Mathura. From the CCTV footage, GRP traced the man who ran away with the kid and arrested him. The man’s arrest led the police to the doctor couple who told the investigators that they had sold the baby to a family in Firozabad. The child was recovered from corporator Vineeta Agarwal’s residence. Police said the accused had allegedly sold the baby to Vineeta and her husband for Rs 1.80 lakh.
The BJP, meanwhile, expelled Vineeta Agarwal from the party.