The anti-robbery and dacoity squad of the police have dented a major child trafficking racket with the arrest of five more people, who allegedly lured over 95 children to travel to France with the promise of securing their future
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The anti-robbery and dacoity squad of the police have dented a major child trafficking racket with the arrest of five more people, who allegedly lured over 95 children to travel to France with the promise of securing their future. The same squad has until now arrested around 25 accused in the case, including the mastermind from Punjab.
In April this year, acting on a tip-off, the police had laid a trap at Terminal 2 of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, and arrested two men and a woman, who were leaving the country with four teenaged boys. According to the police, the scamsters, who allegedly belong to the Bollywood industry, lured parents of teenaged boys into sending them abroad with the promise of providing good education and eventually a national citizenship.
The police recently arrested Poonam Behenwal, 38, her husband Raj, 45, Kiran Limbagiya, 48, Kamal Shah, 50, and Vijay Paswan, 50. The accused worked as carriers. Their job was to make passports using fake documents and then pose as parents of the children, who were being taken to France. Once the kids reached their destination, the accused would destroy their passports. "The carriers would get around a lakh per child. The police have so far managed to rescue four teenage boys, while the accused have successfully sent around 95 teenagers to France," a police source said.
Investigators suspect involvement of another one dozen people from India in the international racket.
95 No. of children sent abroad through racket