Udhagamandalam(TN): A child trafficking racket was busted today with the arrest of a four-member gang, which was about to buy a 3-month-old boy near Gudalur, some 80 kms from here, for Rs five lakh, police said.
The gang members had a struck a deal with Bhuvaneshwari, who is a mother of two children, to purchase the infant for Rs five lakh last night, at her house in Kilapulli, they said.
However, sensing something fishy, the neighbours alerted police and the Child helpline officials who arrived at the spot this morning just before the money was handed over and arrested four persons, including a village health nurse and a woman from Kerala, they added.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that after buying the children, the gang sold them to childless couples for higher prices, police said.