11 arrested for kidnapping, selling infant from Mumbai in Tamil Nadu

The arrested suspects in the custody of VP Road police

The V P Road police in south Mumbai have arrested 11 people, including three women, for their alleged involvement in a baby-selling racket. The police said Girgaum resident Anwari Abdul Rashid Sheikh, 50, had allowed a couple with a four-month-old girl to stay in her house about two-and-a-half months ago.

The couple identified themselves as Ibrahim and Sangeeta Chaubey and told the owner that they were in a live-in relationship. Sheikh took care of the baby when they were out for work. In December 2021, Chaubey left the house without informing the owner and never returned. After some time, Ibrahim took the baby out saying she needed polio doses. But neither of them came back.

On Sheikh's complaint, the police registered a case on January 3 and tracked down Ibrahim, who took them to Tamil Nadu. The cops learnt that Ibrahim was in touch with a few surrogate mothers and one of them had tipped him about a childless couple visiting a doctor. Through her, the baby was sold to the couple for Rs 4.8 lakh. The city cops arrested five people from the limits of Selwan Patti police station.

DCP Dr Saurabh Tripathi two women and four men were arrested from Mumbai and Thane. "Ibrahim claims that he is the father of the child, but to know the truth we are going to get a DNA test done on both of them. We are also looking for the mother of the child." He said the baby has been sent to a care centre as per the orders of the Child Welfare Committee.

Rs 4.8 Lakh
Amount that the four-month-old girl was sold for