4 held for trafficking infant

AHMEDABAD: Vastrapur police on Thursday arrested four persons in connection with the abduction of a one-year-old boy from a footpath near Hebatpur Circle. Investigators said that the boy, the son of labourers, was given to a childless couple and the deal was finalized for Rs 1 lakh.

The couple had paid Rs 50,000 but when they learned about abduction of a boy matching the description, they abandoned the child in an auto. The auto driver handed over the boy to Adalaj police.

null According to Vastrapur police, a team led by sub-inspector M A Vaghela got information that four accused involved in the abduction case are near their residence at Gujarat Housing Board near Gota. The Vastrapur police team along with a team from Sola police station reached the spot and rounded up Jignesh Parmar, 23, Sangeeta Chauhan, 52, Poonam Baraiya, 30, and Jitendra Mehta, 45, all residents of Gujarat Housing Board colony at Gota.

"In preliminary questioning, they said that the boy was abducted while he was sleeping on January 11, from Hebatpur. They had come to know that a childless couple was seeking to adopt a child. They had promised the couple a child and that they would complete the paperwork required. The couple had agreed to pay Rs 1 lakh to Parmar and had given Rs 50,000 in advance," said Vaghela.

When the group gave the child to the couple they asked for the documents and said they will pay the remaining money only after the paperwork was complete. Meanwhile, the couple read in a newspaper about the abduction of a child matching the child they had received and realized he was abducted.

Adalaj police said that an auto driver had approached the police station on January 14 with a child. The child was abandoned by a couple that had boarded the sharing auto from Gota. Police verified the details and contacted Sola police about the child after which he was identified as Jignesh, 1, son of Kalu Vadi, a native of Banswara, Rajasthan.

Vaghela said that all the accused are manual labourers and wanted to make quick money. "Rs 17,500 out of the Rs50,000 they had received was found with them. We have also seized the auto rickshaw used in the crime and the mobile phones of the accused," he said. Sola police station will handle further probe.

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