New racket uncovered: Two-year-old for sale on WhatsApp for Rs 1.8 lakh

In what is possibly a new racket, Delhi police discovered that an infant was being 'sold' via WhatsApp  The two-year-old child was put up for 'sale' on WhatsApp for Rs 1.8 lakh by three women  The police were tipped off by someone who received the message, as a potential buyer 

A two and a half-year-old boy was allegedly kidnapped from outside the Jama Masjid, New Delhi, when his parents were preparing for a prayer on June 5. He was taken across six different locations in the city before being put up for sale on WhatsApp. The entire nexus was being led by three women who planned everything from the kidnapping to the sale. One of the three women uploaded the child's picture on WhatsApp with a price tag of Rs 1.8 lakhs. 

Police got information about the racket when a WhatsApp user saw the boy's picture and verified it with the picture that was being flashed out on television. Police suspect that the women are part of an illegal adoption and surrogacy racket. The three women allegedly wanted to sell the child for a higher price.

Once the police got the whiff of the incident, the last woman in supply chain feared for her life and left the child outside a temple and called the police as a good samaritan and informed them about the child. While the police rescued the child, they also reached out to the woman for the prize money and realised that the number she called from was switched off. They, however, managed to track the woman and the rest in her gang. The three women were identified as Radha (40), Sonia (24), Saroj (34), and Jaan Mohammad (40). All of them were arrested on Thursday.

Speaking to the Times of India, Mandeep Singh Randhawa, DCP, central said, "We had received a complaint about the missing child and had registered a case of kidnapping.A team led by SHO Jama Masjid Anil Kumar was formed to track him down.When we received a tip-off from the informer, raids were conducted and the gang nabbed."

During interrogation, Jaan Mohammad told the cops that he had picked up the child from outside Jama Masjid gate no. 1 on June 5. He first took him to Radha's house in Shakurpur who assured him a good commission in the sale. She then kept the child in her house for sometime before selling him to Sonia for Rs 1 Lakh. Sonia sold the child to Saroj for Rs 1.10 lakh and the latter put him up for sale at Rs 1.8 lakh. Police suspect that Saroj, Radha and Sonia had met each other at an IVF Clinic where they went to donate their eggs. They allegedly sold off another boy in Gurgaon after convincing the parents. Their usual targets were childless couples willing to adopt grown-up kids.