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Startling revelations have emerged after the accused in the Rourkela child trafficking case allegedly confessed before the police that they were selling baby girls for Rs 1 lakh each while a boy fetched Rs 4 lakh.
The high profile racket was operating out of the Steel City since the past couple of years during which the conduits allegedly 'sold' more than 40 children in other states, informed the Police.
The modus operandi of the traffickers was to identify financially weak families and lure them with money to part with their children.
The murky trade was unearthed by the Plant Site Police in Rourkela on Tuesday after the sleuths followed up a tip off in the traffickers and rounded up seven of them.
Seema Khuntia, the complainant in the case said, “I approached the police with my granddaughter. They spoke with me and arrested the culprits.”
“The racket was operating across many states, from Nagpur, Kanpur to Delhi. We do not know the exact number of the conduits right now. We will have to take them on remand after which we will be able to extract more information from them,” said Rourkela Superintendent of Police Mukesh Bhamu.
Nevertheless, the expose on the syndicate has raised many eyebrows with denizens questioning the role of police in this matter. “This is a heinous crime. I do not have words to express my hatred towards the traffickers,” said Jyotsna Mohapatra, a resident of Rourkela.
As per the data obtained from the department, 34 children have been reportedly missing under Rourkela UPD since the last five years. Similarly the Sundergarh UPD has reported 47 missing children in last four years.
The revelations have intrigued many asto whether the operation of the racket is limited to selling the minors or the conduits are involved in other sinister activities like selling their organs for money.
Meanwhile, Bikram Keshari Bhoi, Additional SP of Rourkela informed that a case has been registered against the accused and further investigation will be carried out to ascertain the involvement of other people in the crime, if any.
