Inter-state child trafficking gang targeting IVF patients busted in UP; 5 held, 4-year-old rescued

AGRA: An inter-state child trafficking gang that catered to childless couples desperate for a baby after failed IVF (in vitro fertilisation) treatments was busted by Uttar Pradesh Police. Five accused, including kingpin Mallika Arjun and two women, have been arrested. A four-year-old boy, lifted from Hathras district recently, was rescued from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. The gang has 12 members across the country, and would obtain details of couples undergoing IVF treatments from fertility centres, said police on Friday. The gang would then approach those whose procedures had failed and were emotionally vulnerable, offering them a child for Rs 3-5 lakh.Once a deal was made, the gang members would begin looking for a “suitable” child. “The gang primarily targeted poor families in dire financial need. If the parents agreed to sell the child, the transaction was done secretly. If not, the child would be abducted and later sold to the childless couple,” said Hathras SSP Chiranjeev Nath Sinha. “This gang first selects a target and then rents a house near the child’s location and gets close to the child’s family. Once they have gained trust, they take photographs of the child and send it across for approval by the prospective buyers (childless families). The gang abducts the child only after getting the go ahead,” SSP Sinha said.The racket came to light after a four-year-old boy, Kavish Kumar, was abducted from Hathras on May 9. Five special police teams were formed and over 500 CCTV footages were scanned. The child was rescued from Vijayawada.“So far, nine children sold through this syndicate have been identified. We are now working to track the remaining children. Roles of IVF clinics are also being probed,” said DSP Hathras Yogendra Krishna Narayan. The arrested accused are Monu Pathak from Hathras and his wife from Ghaziabad. Those from Andhra Pradesh include Meddipatla Raghevendra and his mother from Kadapa district, and kingpin Mallika Arjun from Paderu.Police have registered a case under BNS 143-(3) (5) (human trafficking), said Hathras Nagar Kotwali SHO Girish Chandra.