Exposed:Child smuggling racket in the South
8 June 2010
Exposed:Child smuggling racket in the South 8 Jun 2010, 0836 hrs IST
The recent recovery of eight stolen children from Chennai has exposed one of the biggest child trafficking rackets in the south of
According to the Krishnagiri police (Karnataka), this particular child trafficking racket was being run by two priests and a self-styled 'human rights activist'. The police have since the end of May rescued eight children who were reported missing from the district over an 18-month period, from various cities in the south.
The police on Friday (June 4) booked five people including priest Alphonse Xavier and three women under the Goondas Act. They have also picked up a woman who claims to be the head of a self-styled human rights outfit. The probe indicates that the racketeers could have connections with a larger network. The invesigators believee that they may have been involved in the abduction and sale of at least a dozen more children.
TIMES NOW discovered two of the eight children recently rescued, who are barely toddlers. One of them, Ajay, is now two years old and was found in Chennai. His parents have not been traced. Another child, Kalai Priya, is just a year old and was discovered in Puducherry. Her biological parents too, have yet to be traced.
Both children were reportedly sold to childless couples.
One of the players allegedly involved in the abduction of the eight children is a woman named Dhanalaxmi, who kidnapped the children from bus stands or hospitals after gaining the confidence of the parents.
Dhanalakshmi handed over the kids - all between three months and three years of age - to Girija and Rani in Perambur in Chennai for a few thousand rupees. Girija then sold the kids, fi-ve boys and three girls, to childless parents in different locations in Tamil Nadu through the priest named Xavier in Padappai near Chennai - or self-proclaimed human rights activist Lalitha of Puducherry.
According to the police, some kids were sold for as much as Rs 1 lakh each. The priest and Lalitha told the adoptive parents that the children were orphans, and even arranged for their birth certificates.
"We have booked Alph-onse Xavier, Dhanalakshmi, Girija, her husband Siva and Rani under the Goondas Act," SP Babu said. "We plan further interrogation of Lalitha and the other priest, Selvam, who has also been arrested."
The trafficking ring was exposed after Ramakka, a woman from Hosur, lodged a complaint with the police about the abduction of her 3-month-old son on May 18. She said a woman who had befriended her had kidnapped the child from the Krishnagiri bus stand. "I lost my child...she took him away from in front of my eyes," she tells TIMES NOW.
The cops zeroed in on the suspect, Dhanalaxmi, the next morning but she had already handed over the child to two women from Perambur. "We then traced the child in Perambur and arrested three people there," a senior Krishnagiri police officer said.
Dhanalakshmi confessed to have stolen a 3-year-old boy who was reported missing in December 2009 and said that the child had been handed over to a Alphonse Xavier for Rs 5000. Xavier and Selvam had sold the child to a family in Ginjee. "We arrested the priests and traced the boy, who was reunited with his parents last week," the Krishnagiri officer said.
Another parent, Selvaraj has been reunited with his lost son.
The child racketeers' network, allegedly masterminded by the priest Alphonse Xavier and Lalitha of Puducherry, has been found spread across Tiruvannamalai, Cuddalore, Villipuram, Chennai, Puducherry and Krishnagiri, but police say this is only the top of the iceberg.
The arms of this network may be long indeed, reaching other parts of the world. For now however the priority for authorities is to trace the biological parents of all of these stolen children, a task that is blowing the lid off the ugly face of adoption in
According to the Krishnagiri police (Karnataka), this particular child trafficking racket was being run by two priests and a self-styled 'human rights activist'. The police have since the end of May rescued eight children who were reported missing from the district over an 18-month period, from various cities in the south.
The police on Friday (June 4) booked five people including priest Alphonse Xavier and three women under the Goondas Act. They have also picked up a woman who claims to be the head of a self-styled human rights outfit. The probe indicates that the racketeers could have connections with a larger network. The invesigators believee that they may have been involved in the abduction and sale of at least a dozen more children.
TIMES NOW discovered two of the eight children recently rescued, who are barely toddlers. One of them, Ajay, is now two years old and was found in Chennai. His parents have not been traced. Another child, Kalai Priya, is just a year old and was discovered in Puducherry. Her biological parents too, have yet to be traced.
Both children were reportedly sold to childless couples.
One of the players allegedly involved in the abduction of the eight children is a woman named Dhanalaxmi, who kidnapped the children from bus stands or hospitals after gaining the confidence of the parents.
Dhanalakshmi handed over the kids - all between three months and three years of age - to Girija and Rani in Perambur in Chennai for a few thousand rupees. Girija then sold the kids, fi-ve boys and three girls, to childless parents in different locations in Tamil Nadu through the priest named Xavier in Padappai near Chennai - or self-proclaimed human rights activist Lalitha of Puducherry.
According to the police, some kids were sold for as much as Rs 1 lakh each. The priest and Lalitha told the adoptive parents that the children were orphans, and even arranged for their birth certificates.
"We have booked Alph-onse Xavier, Dhanalakshmi, Girija, her husband Siva and Rani under the Goondas Act," SP Babu said. "We plan further interrogation of Lalitha and the other priest, Selvam, who has also been arrested."
The trafficking ring was exposed after Ramakka, a woman from Hosur, lodged a complaint with the police about the abduction of her 3-month-old son on May 18. She said a woman who had befriended her had kidnapped the child from the Krishnagiri bus stand. "I lost my child...she took him away from in front of my eyes," she tells TIMES NOW.
The cops zeroed in on the suspect, Dhanalaxmi, the next morning but she had already handed over the child to two women from Perambur. "We then traced the child in Perambur and arrested three people there," a senior Krishnagiri police officer said.
Dhanalakshmi confessed to have stolen a 3-year-old boy who was reported missing in December 2009 and said that the child had been handed over to a Alphonse Xavier for Rs 5000. Xavier and Selvam had sold the child to a family in Ginjee. "We arrested the priests and traced the boy, who was reunited with his parents last week," the Krishnagiri officer said.
Another parent, Selvaraj has been reunited with his lost son.
The child racketeers' network, allegedly masterminded by the priest Alphonse Xavier and Lalitha of Puducherry, has been found spread across Tiruvannamalai, Cuddalore, Villipuram, Chennai, Puducherry and Krishnagiri, but police say this is only the top of the iceberg.
The arms of this network may be long indeed, reaching other parts of the world. For now however the priority for authorities is to trace the biological parents of all of these stolen children, a task that is blowing the lid off the ugly face of adoption in