Child Trafficking Racket Unearthed in Karnataka, 6 Babies Rescued, 4 Arrested

Bengaluru: Karnataka police busted a child trafficking racket and rescued six babies between the age of 11 months to 2.5 years Tumakuru district of the state.

Four persons involved in the racket including an owner of a private hospital and three nurses were arrested. They were allegedly selling babies to childless couples.  have been arrested.

Two accused, Mahesh, a nurse at a government hospital in Kunigal, and Mehboob Shariff, the owner of a private hospital, used to get babies from parents who didn’t want the child. These babies were being sold to other couples for Rs 2–3 lakh. Two female nurses, Sowjanya and Poornima were also arrested for their involvement in the case.

The babies procured and sold by this gang were mostly born out of extra marital or pre-marital affairs and their biological parents didn’t want to keep the babies.

Couples who wanted to buy the babies pretended to be pregnant and were admitted to the private hospital owned by Mehboob Shariff. They were then ‘discharged’ by faking a delivery with an illegally adopted baby.

The arrested persons were involved in this racket since 2022, and they have already transacted 9 babies, police sources said.

So far, police have rescued six babies who are being given support and care at a child protection centre.

One baby is reportedly dead, and the other two babies are being brought from Hyderabad and Davangere.