Police confirm baby trafficking racket in Kottayam, key intermediary arrested

Kottayam: Police have confirmed that newborn babies born to pregnant women brought from other states were illegally sold in Kerala, with the Erattupetta police registering the first case linked to the racket.

Investigators said a newborn was handed over to buyers in exchange for money around six months ago. Police have identified those who received the baby, with officials estimating the timing of the sale based on the child's current age. District Police Chief K M Sabu Mathew said the transfer was not carried out through any legal adoption process.

While refusing to divulge further details due to the ongoing investigation, police said the focus is now on determining whether more newborns were sold through the racket.

An earlier case was registered based on a complaint by a woman from Assam, but the charges were limited to wrongful confinement and abetment to sell her child. Investigators now believe the accused in that case were also behind the illegal sale of the newborn.

Meanwhile, the Erattupetta police on Tuesday night arrested Aneena Thesni (26), of Kulathil Puthenveettil, Paravur, who is believed to be one of the key intermediaries in the racket. She was taken into custody from Kollam, taking the total number of arrests in the case to three.

The two other accused, arrested earlier, are Mooppiliraj (27), a native of Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu, and K S Arjun (21), of Koondani House, Puthukkad, Vagamon.