In a sting operation, the Eluru town police on Saturday arrested the director of an orphanage for allegedly selling a baby boy to decoy policewomen for Rs. 3 lakh.
Upon receiving a tip-off that Self Help and Rural Development Society, located on Ponangi Road in Venkatapuram panchayat in Eluru Rural mandal, was running an adoption racket, women police personnel posing as prospective adoptive parents approached the NGO’s director, Mr. Ravi Prakash, for the sale of a baby.
When he handed over a baby boy after accepting Rs. 3 lakh, he was arrested, according to Eluru One Town Circle Inspector N. Raja Sekhar. Self Help and Rural Development Society, which is approved by the Women Development and Child Welfare Department (WD&CW), houses about 30 children.
The decoy party tailed Mr. Ravi Prakash for the past few days and a deal was struck for Rs. 3 lakh. On Saturday, he was caught red-handed and the baby was handed over to WD&CW officials.
A case under Section 372 of the IPC has been registered, Mr. Raja Sekhar told The Hindu .
The project director of WD&CW in West Godavari district, G. Chandrasekhar said the NHO would be closed and the inmates produced before the Child Welfare Committee. “The government will cancel licence of Self Help and Rural Development Society and the children would be shifted to other homes, said Mr. Chandrashekar.
