6-week-old baby sold for ₹4 lakh recovered, grandparents booked

SHOCKER Grandparents took ₹1L from attendant at govt hospital

PATIALA: District police arrested seven persons, including five women, on charges of kidnapping and trafficking a baby, on Wednesday. Police said two of the accused were charged under same sections in 2014.

The accused sold a 6-week-old baby for ₹4 lakh, wherein grandparents of the infant are among the accused as they were paid ₹1 lakh for the deal.

Police recovered the baby boy, who was handed over by his grandparents to Saroj Bala, an attendant at Rajindra hospital, on October 2 for a sum of money.

The accused have been identified as Sakai Ram, infant’s grandfather, his wife Krishna, Saroj Bala and her contacts— Mamta of Barnala, Kamlesh Rani of Mansa, Seema of Saharanpur, Usha of Amritsar and Pankaj Goyal of Sangrur, to whom the child was sold.

SSP Mandeep Singh Sidhu said Rakesh Kumar of Meerapur village complained that his child was kidnapped when his parents, Sakai Ram and Krishna, took him to Rajindra hospital to visit the paediatrician on October 2 in Patiala. The couple also have a three-year-old daughter.

In a meticulous investigation, police minutely combed the hospital’s CCTV footage.

“On the basis of CCTV cameras footage, we zeroed-in on the child’s grandparents,” he said. SSP said the accused Sakai Ram had deposed that he met Saroj Bala, an attendant at government Rajindra hospital.

“Saroj hatched the plan of selling the child and introduced the idea to Sakai Ram. After his consent, Saroj contacted Mamta, Kamlesh, Seema and Usha and asked them to find customers for the baby boy,” the SSP said. Usha informed Saroj about Pankaj Goyal of Sangrur, who wished for a child.

“They contacted Pankaj on October 3 and settled the deal at ₹4 lakh. After Pankaj paid, they gave the child to him,” the SSP said. DSP Yogesh Sharma said ₹1.94 lakh has been recovered from the accused.

He said two of the accused, Usha and Seema, had been charged under same sections in 2014, wherein a case was registered at civil lines police station, but the accused were acquitted in 2016 by local court, he said.

“It is a shocking case. The baby’s grandparents were given ₹1 lakh. The baby is now back with parents,” Sharma said.

A case has been registered against all the accused under sections 363A (Kidnapping a minor for purposes of begging), 369 (Kidnapping) and 370 (Trafficking of persons) of IPC.

WE CHECKED CCTV WHICH SHOWED SAKAI RAM, GRANDFATHER, HANDING OVER THE BABY TO ATTENDANT, SAYS PATIALA SSP