Thane: Baby-selling racket busted; 7, including BHMS doctor, arrested

All the accused in police custody. Three more suspected accused have been detained in this case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Crime Branch Unit-2 jointly busted a baby-selling racket and arrested seven people, including a Diva-based BHMS doctor. The agents operated the racket from Thane-based Indra and Dosti hospitals.

The accused agents are Vandana Pawar, 27; Shital Ganesh Ware, 41; Sneha Yuvraj Suryavanshi, 24; Nasima Hanif Khan, 28; Lata Nanabhau Survade, 36; Sharad Maruti Devar, 45; and BHMS doctor Sanjay Sopanrao Khandare, 42, who runs Nileshwari Clinic at Diva Junction.

The children are aged from eight months to 2.5 years old and were born in Mumbai. During the investigation, cops found that this gang sold 14 kids, out of which three are girls and 11 are boys. The police have identified nine more children and are tracing them in Telangana.

According to police officials, on April 27, Crime Branch Unit 2 received a tip-off about a woman, Kanta Pendekar, from Kannamwar Nagar at Vikhroli, who sold her five-month-old child for R2 lakh to childless parents in Ratnagiri on December 13, 2022.

DCP Ragasudha R, who was recently transferred from Parbhani city in Maharashtra, is leading the investigation, jointly forming a team with Crime Branch Unit 2. The tip-off was received by Senior Inspector Dilip Tejankar from Unit 2, and they formed a team.

Cops found that Pendekar sold her child to agent Shital Ware at Govandi. Agent Ware revealed to cops that she sold the child to BHMS doctor Sanjay Khandare at Diva Junction. The doctor then contacted agent Vandana Amit Pawar, who sold the kid to childless parents in Ratnagiri.

Crime Branch sources told mid-day, "The agents were visiting fertility centres where many couples go to become parents via surrogacy. The agents offered children for sale to those who failed to conceive."

During interrogation, accused agent Shital Ware revealed that she sold another two-year-old girl for R2.50 lakh with the help of agents Sharad Devar and Sneha Suryavanshi. The cops found that the girl was sold from Malad to a childless couple in Nalasopara.

During the investigation, cops also found that the Malad-based woman had two daughters and wanted a boy, but unfortunately, she delivered a baby girl. Agent Shital Ware approached her to sell her third daughter and paid Rs 80,000 to the mother.

The cops rescued both girls and admitted them to Asha Trust at Mahalaxmi, and are tracing 12 more kids sold in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

During the investigation, cops also found that the accused had been running this racket since September 2022. All accused were produced in court and remanded in Crime Branch custody for five days. Three more suspected accused have been detained in this case.

An officer said, "The agents were targeting poor people who sought money in return for selling their kids. All parents are from slum areas."