Hyderabad: The Cyberabad Special Operations Team (SOT), along with the Miyapur Police, apprehended an 11-member inter-state human trafficking gang operating from Hyderabad and rescued two newborn infants.
Police arrested Vemula Babu Reddy (49) Venkipally Gangadhar Reddy (39), Daram Laxmi (28), Ram Hari Roy (37), Kummari Harsha Roy (31), Sangeeta Debi (33), Gudepu Sujatha (40), Suraboina Anuradha (55), Esarapu Jyothi (35), V Madhavi (28), and Pothula Sobha (44). The two rescued infants were handed over to Sishu Vihar, Ameerpet for safe custody.
According to police, on credible information about the operations of a human trafficking gang of 11 members, the prime accused were apprehended within the limits of Miyapur Police Station, along with their associates, from different parts of the city.
Shobhan Kumar, DCP, SOT, Madhapur, said that the accused formed an organised gang with a common intention to illegally procure and sell infants for monetary gain. The DCP said, “They identify poor families from different parts of the country, who are unable to meet the basic needs of their newborns and induce them to sell their babies by offering attractive amounts. After unlawfully procuring the infants from vulnerable families, they illegally sell the babies to the needy affluent families for large sums through an organised chain, exploiting the economically weaker sections of society for unlawful gain,” said DCP Shobhan Kumar.
Poleis said the accused Babu Reddy of Dammaiguda, Kapra, works as an IVF agent. He was previously arrested by the Alwal police and Devarakonda police. Gangadhar Reddy of Mettugadda and a native of East Godavari district, has reportedly been involved in 18 cases across the Cyberabad, Rachakonda and Hyderabad jurisdictions.
The DCP said that in the present case, Gangadhar roped in his associates–namely Laxmi, Sangeetha and Harsha–and procured an infant from Ahmedabad by paying money to the biological parents through middlemen, with plans to sell the child in Hyderabad to childless couples for a large sum.
Similarly, Babu reached out to Gangadhar for infant, who in turn contacted his associates Sujatha, Jyothi, Madhavi and Shobba and procured an infant baby from Ramanpet, Siddipet district by paying middlemen to sell the baby to needy couples in Hyderabad for a high amount,” said Shobhan Kumar.
