Siliguri, 26th March: Under the joint operation of the Special Operation Group of Siliguri Metropolitan and the undercover cops of Matigara police station have busted a child trafficking racket. The police have arrested four people from the gang out of which, three are said to be female and one male. The accused have been identified as Prabha Devi, Bina Devi, Gauri Bahadur Chhetri and Pratik Devnath. Prateek Devnath and Gauri Bahadur Chhetri are husband and wife. During this, a 7-day-old newborn infant has also been rescued.
The police have admitted the newborn to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital on the instructions of the CWC. The baby girl is said to be healthy. According to the information, Prabha Devi is a resident of Patna, Bihar. Whereas, Bina Devi and the couple Gauri and Prateek are residents of Siliguri. Reportedly, Gauri and Prateek used to look for such a couple who wanted children. After the search was over, they used to order newborn babies without contacting Bina Devi.
Reportedly, after getting orders and the advance for the trafficking, Bina Devi would activate her network in Bihar. The said network would approach especially economically weak women by luring them with money and then buying the unborn child before birth. After this, within a week of birth, Bina Devi would hand over the infants to Gauri and Prateek. After this, the couple would sell the newborn for lakhs of rupees. But eventually, the gang got caught in the clutches of the police.
Yesterday, the accused Prabha Devi was waiting for someone standing near North Bengal University with the newborn. Acting on a tip-off, the SOG, along with the police of Matigara police station, launched a campaign near the university. During this, Prabha Devi was interrogated about the children. Based on suspicion, the police brought Prabha Devi to the police station for further questioning. After this, the whole matter of child trafficking came to the fore. It was also revealed that the said seven-day-old newborn girl was to be sold for Rs 6 lakh.
Reportedly, further investigation has been handed over to DD. A thorough investigation has been initiated into the entire incident under the leadership of DD’s ACP Rajen Chhetri. Meanwhile, all the accused have been presented in the Siliguri court today. In this regard, ADCP Suvendra Kumar said that four people have been arrested by the SOG and the undercover police of Matigara police station while exposing the child trafficking gang. During this, a newborn girl has also been rescued.