2 UP docs, nurse in custody for child trafficking racket

BAREILLY: UP Police arrested six members of an alleged child trafficking gang, including local doctors, on Saturday. Police said the arrests came following the abduction of 18-month-old Rishabh from Bareilly’s Manouna Dham temple on May 24.Bareilly SP South, Anshika Verma, told TOI: “Arrested persons include Sanjay Kumar Vishwas, 60, who claimed to hold a degree in bachelor of homeopathic medicine and surgery (BHMS) and is a resident of West Bengal’s Nadia district; Keshavram alias Manjesh, who is a ‘quack’ from Lakhimpur Kheri; and a woman named Seeta, who was working as a nurse in Bareilly.”She added, “The gang systematically targeted children from temples, hospitals and crowded public places. Each child was sold for Rs 1.2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, with Seeta handling the onward sale to buyers. So far, it came to light that these people have sold three infants. We’re trying to ascertain if there were more infants taken away by them.”The crackdown came after Rishabh, son of a sanitation worker, went missing while playing at Manouna Dham on May 24. Police set up a special team, which nabbed two men, Yogesh Kannaujia and Pawan Chandel, in an encounter on May 27. Rishabh was rescued. Their interrogation led to ‘kingpin’ Uttam Vajpayee, who was held on May 29. He further named Keshavram, Vishwas and Seeta as key members of the network.Vishwas was traced to Sitapur while Seeta, a Badaun resident, was found in Bareilly, police said, adding that Vishwas had a prior criminal case against him.Verma added: “Vajpayee had earlier sold two children to a staff nurse at a medical college in Bareilly. An FIR under BNS sections 137-2 (kidnapping), 143-4 (trafficking of a person) and 61-2 (criminal conspiracy) have been registered against all three of them and they have been sent to jail.”