A woman accused of child trafficking was arrested by Mumbai Police in Hubli, West Bengal. Police also rescued two children. On April 18, police said that the woman is accused of being involved in selling young kids. Police said that the two children rescued included a boy who had been reported missing in August last year. Police stated that on August 5, 2024, a complaint was filed at Wadala TT Police Station about the boy going missing. The complainant had reported that his grandson, a two-year-old boy, was missing. When police started investigating the matter, it was revealed that the son-in-law of the old man had sold his son and grandson for Rs 1.6 lakh with the help of three individuals. The three suspects are identified as Asma Shaikh, Sharif Shaikh, and Asha Pawar.
The case was registered against all the accused under the IPC sections of Human Trafficking and the Juvenile Justice Act, an official said. Two suspects were arrested in this case initially from Mumbai, the official said, adding that their arrest was followed by the arrest of apprehension of Asha Pawar. She was arrested in Hyderabad by Mumbai Police officials. After being arrested, during the interrogation, she revealed that the child was sold to a woman named Rashmi in Odisha at the Bhubaneswar Railway Station.
Police officials carried out a technical investigation and traced Rashmi. Officials learned that she was working at a dental hospital in Bhubaneshwar, but she switched jobs recently and moved to another hospital that was based in Cuttack. Till police reached there, she had left the job, the cops stated. Despite facing this setback, they continued with their investigation and nabbed Rashmi Banerjee from Hubli in West Bengal on April 9.
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Police said that she was found with the missing two-year-old boy and another girl. Officials said that Banerjee was produced before the Additional Chief Magistrate at Serampore for transit remand, and then she was brought to Mumbai. The boy was also brought to Mumbai and returned to his relatives. The girl was sent to a childcare centre in Hubli.
The boy had visible injury marks and was admitted to a hospital for treatment, police said.