Six allegedly involved in child trafficking racket held

Mankhurd police have busted a gang allegedly involved in child trafficking cases and have arrested six persons, including four women for allegedly abducting children from different areas of Mumbai and selling them to people in Goa, Gujarat and Karnataka.

Those arrested have been identified as Yogita Sale (21), Aasha Gulbir Thakur (36), Nurjahan Mehmud Mulla (40), Prabhavati Naik (48), Mala Prabhakar Wankhede (40) and Ganesh Sale (27).

According to police, on December 05 missing complaint of an infant was registered at the Mankhurd police station and two days later one Yogita Sale was caught in the said case. Sale during interrogation told the police that she had sold the boy to one Prabha Naik in Goa. Naik had in turn, sold the boy to a Goa-based couple for Rs 2.5 lakh.

A police team then went to Goa and nabbed other culprits and rescued the abducted child. During the investigation in Goa it got revealed that those nabbed were part of an interstate child trafficking racket. While Yogita, Sale and Wankhede would abduct children from Ulhas Nagar, Kalyan and Mankhurd areas, the others would sell them to people in Goa, Gujarat and Karnataka. The police have so far rescued five children from Ahmedabad, Goa and Karnataka allegedly abducted by the gang so far.

"Three more children whom were trafficked by the gang are yet to be rescued. The kids were rescued. Rescued children have been sent to children home and efforts are on to reunite them with their families," Said Manoj Lohiya, Additional commissioner of Police (East region).