Delhi Police has uncovered an alleged inter-state infant trafficking racket that reportedly sold newborn babies and infants for between ₹6 lakh and ₹10 lakh, leading to the arrest of 13 people, including alleged traffickers, middlemen, buyers and a private hospital owner.
Five infants have been rescued so far, while investigators suspect that nearly 30 children may have been trafficked across several states over the past 18 months. The case came to light following a decoy operation near Delhi’s R K Ashram Metro Station on June 5, where police allegedly caught three people attempting to sell a newborn baby.
Authorities say the network targeted economically vulnerable families in Rajasthan and Gujarat, used forged birth and medical records to conceal identities, and supplied infants to childless couples in multiple states. The Child Welfare Committee has taken custody of the rescued children, while police continue efforts to trace biological families and identify other victims.
Trafficking Network Exposed
What initially appeared to be an isolated attempt to sell a newborn has now exposed what investigators describe as a highly organised trafficking network operating across state borders.
According to Delhi Police, the syndicate allegedly sourced infants from economically distressed families, particularly in tribal and rural regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat, for as little as ₹10,000 to ₹20,000 before selling them to prospective buyers for up to ₹10 lakh.
A senior police officer involved in the investigation said evidence collected so far suggests that around 30 children may have been trafficked over the last one and a half years. “The gang had developed an organised system where infants were sourced from vulnerable families and routed through facilitators before being handed over to buyers under fabricated identities,” the officer reportedly said.
The probe has led to arrests across different levels of the alleged network. Among those held are suppliers, transporters, brokers and buyers, along with a private hospital owner in outer Delhi who is accused of helping shelter trafficked infants and facilitating forged paperwork.
Police also arrested an alleged key supplier, Saybabhai Ghamar alias Kalia, from Gujarat on June 17. Other accused include a freelance laboratory technician, a driver and a domestic worker.
Investigators claim the racket relied heavily on forged birth certificates and medical records, allowing trafficked infants to be presented as legitimate children of adoptive families. Officials believe the use of fabricated identities made it significantly harder to trace children back to their biological parents and may have enabled the network to evade detection for an extended period.
How The Racket Operated
According to police, the investigation began after intelligence inputs suggested that newborn babies were being illegally traded in Delhi. Acting on these leads, Crime Branch officers conducted a decoy operation near Paharganj’s R K Ashram Metro Station on June 5 and allegedly intercepted three individuals attempting to sell a four-to-five-day-old infant. Their arrest reportedly opened a trail that led investigators to a wider network spread across several states.
Subsequent raids and interrogations revealed what police describe as a structured supply chain involving recruiters, transporters, intermediaries and facilitators.
Authorities believe vulnerable families were identified and approached through local contacts, with infants later transferred through multiple handlers before being sold to buyers. Investigators are examining whether all biological parents willingly handed over their children or whether some were misled, coerced or otherwise exploited.
The case has also drawn attention to the demand side of illegal adoption networks. Police say the trafficked infants were allegedly sold to childless couples in Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and other states.
While India has a legal adoption framework regulated by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), officials and child rights advocates note that illegal networks often exploit individuals seeking faster alternatives to formal adoption procedures.
The five rescued infants have been placed under the care of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), which has ordered their protection, rehabilitation and identity verification. Authorities are now coordinating with agencies across states to trace biological families and identify children who may have been sold through the syndicate. Given the alleged use of forged records, officials acknowledge that the process may require extensive documentation reviews and, in some cases, DNA testing.
The case also highlights a broader national concern. Child rights experts have long warned that poverty, inadequate social support systems and weak oversight can make vulnerable families easy targets for traffickers.
Infant trafficking is particularly difficult to detect because newborns can be absorbed into families under fabricated identities, leaving little evidence of wrongdoing. The alleged involvement of healthcare-linked individuals in this case has further raised questions about monitoring mechanisms within private medical facilities.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The alleged trafficking of infants for profit represents one of the gravest forms of exploitation imaginable. Beyond the criminality of buying and selling children, the case exposes how poverty, desperation and systemic gaps can be manipulated by organised networks. It is equally concerning that forged documents and alleged healthcare connections may have helped legitimise illegal transactions, potentially erasing children’s identities and separating them from their families forever.
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