Coimbatore cops widen probe into baby-selling racket to Bihar

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore rural police, who busted an interstate baby-selling racket, suspect the arrested six-member gang to have sold several babies brought from their native Bihar.

Acting on a tip off to Childline on June 3, the Karumathampatti All Women Police arrested a couple, M Mahesh Kumar, 34 and his wife Anjalikumari, 24, both natives of Bihar and running a hotel in Sulur on charges of abducting and selling a two-year old boy to a truck driver in Andhra Pradesh.

They also abducted and sold a girl baby from Bihar to one D Vijayan, 48, a farmer from Lakshminaickenpalayam in Sulur for Rs 2.5 lakh. Besides the two child buyers, police also arrested Anjalikumari’s mother H Poonam Devi, 61 and sister H Neha Kumari, 21.

Inquiries with the couple Mahesh Kumar and Anjalikumari, after taking them into custody revealed that they had sold more babies brought from their hometown. They also took the couple by flight to Bihar to buy babies.

Police are widening their investigations, as more persons are involved in preparing fake Aadhaar and birth certificates for the sold babies. “We have planned to approach our counterparts in Bihar to hold a detailed probe into the child selling racket and rescue the babies. A special team will visit Bihar for further investigation,” said an official.