Crime Branch suspects that some of the victims were either abducted or purchased from hospitals in Agra; a team of Unit IX officers will raid places in Uttar Pradesh to gather more details
Jitendra Thakur, one of the arrested accused in the Lokhandwala sex racket that was busted last week
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As part of the investigation into the city’s biggest human trafficking racket, a team of Crime Branch (Unit IX) officers is going to raid several places in Agra, including hospitals, from where the gang allegedly abducted or purchased children to push them into flesh trade after they grew up.
Young prey
The arrested accused — Jitendra Thakur (37), Vimal Thakur (47), Anju Thakur (43) and Poonam Thakur (45) — will be produced in court today as their police custody is ending. And now, Crime Branch is likely to ask for their custody to act on the information that was revealed during interrogation by the police, of the accused stealing babies from Agra hospitals.
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It has also come to light that the gang has agents working all over and the latter used to abduct children from villages and sell them to the accused for a nominal price. Most of the girls abducted were aged between three and five years, and hence, the victims believed the accused to be their parents. The police will soon be searching for the real parents of those victims whose names were revealed by the culprits during questioning.
Lid blown, finally!
The racket came to light on September 14, when one of the victims managed to break free after 14 torturous years.
Now a 24-year-old woman, she was brought to Mumbai in 2002 by the gang when she was just 10. She managed to escape about six months ago, and fled to her family home in Agra.
Out of fear, she refused to tell her family members about her ordeal initially, but over the last few months they managed to coax the truth out of her.
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Once aware of the facts, they informed the Agra police, who then wrote to the Mumbai police about it.
The Crime Branch (Unit IX) then organised a raid, after it got a call from the top brass of the Mumbai police, and was asked to get in touch with the escaped woman.
“On her direction, we raided one of the flats used in the racket and arrested the four accused,” said one of the officers.
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