Rohini Doctor Arrested As Police Bust Interstate Child Trafficking Racket
The Delhi Police have busted an interstate child-trafficking racket operating out of Hira Hospital in Rohini, arresting 15 people, including the facility's owner, Dr. Viveki. The racket, which was uncovered last week, allegedly involved selling trafficked babies to infertile couples under the guise of legitimate in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatments. So far, police have rescued seven children, including a one-month-old infant recovered from Rishikesh on Monday.
The investigation intensified after police apprehended a 32-year-old woman in Rishikesh on Monday and rescued the infant from her possession. The woman claimed she believed the baby was her biological child born through an IVF procedure at the Rohini hospital.
According to police sources, the woman had been married for 12 years and was unable to conceive because her husband is paralysed. A relative recommended Dr. Viveki as an infertility expert. The woman claimed she visited Dr. Viveki last year and was told she could have a child through IVF using a surrogate donor.
Over the next nine months, the couple continued to visit Hira Hospital, and the husband's semen sample was collected. On June 4, the hospital handed the infant over to the woman, who signed papers stating the child was born through IVF. Police are currently verifying if the papers were forged and whether the hospital actually possessed the facilities to provide IVF services.
In reality, investigators discovered that the baby had been purchased from parents willing to sell their children for as little as Rs 5,000. The gang allegedly used the code word "files" to refer to the babies and conducted all transactions in cash.
The babies were reportedly brought to Delhi by car from outside the city. Members of the racket, including Vipin, Jyoti, and Shalu, would travel to Pali in Rajasthan to hand over cash to the alleged mastermind, Sayabhai Ghamar, also known as Kalia. They would then drive back to Delhi with the child, often accompanied by a man to pose as a family and evade police suspicion.
Once the infants arrived in Delhi, they were kept at Hira Hospital. From there, some babies were delivered directly to the buyers, while other buyers were instructed to collect the children from the hospital premises.
Among the 15 people arrested in connection with the racket are an intermediary named Prathiba, and several buyers. These include Mukesh and Reema Pal from Gwalior, who allegedly purchased two newborns, and Sunny Arora and Ritu Arora from Panipat, who allegedly paid Rs 6 lakh for a baby boy. Other arrested suspects include Lalit, Vipin, Omwati, and Sarika.
