Bengaluru: Police on Monday arrested four people, including three women, for attempting to sell a 20-day-old baby boy.
The arrested are Kannan Raamasaami, 51, Hemalatha, 27, and Sharanya, 33, from Tamil Nadu’s Erode, and Murugeshwari, 22, from Madurai.
The First Information Report (FIR) stated that a police inspector from the Central Crime Branch’s (CCB) Organised Crime Wing (OCW) received a tip-off that the four people were reportedly obtaining infants and selling them to childless couples for a hefty price.
The police official was also informed that the four would be near the Sri Rajarajeshwari Temple in Rajarajeshwari Nagar on November 24. The four were in a red Maruti Swift. Acting swiftly, officials arrested them that day.
The operation also resulted in the safe retrieval of the baby boy, a well-placed CCB source said.
Upon questioning, the four arrested claimed that a woman named Mahalakshmi, who remains at large, had instructed them to come to the location with the promise of money after selling the infant, police sources revealed.
A case has been registered at the Rajarajeshwari Nagar police station under Sections 370(4) and 34, along with Sections 80 and 81 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
The case has been handed over to CCB for further scrutiny. The motive behind the baby's procurement and the intended selling price remains unclear.
Authorities confiscated an Oppo, a Vivo, and a Samsung mobile phone from the four. The Maruti Swift used by the group was also seized, police sources said.
Published 27 November 2023, 15:54 IST