Ahmedabad: In a major late-night operation, the Ahmedabad City Crime Branch busted a child trafficking racket, rescuing a newborn baby and arresting three individuals near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The accused are allegedly part of an illegal trafficking network operating across Gujarat, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

Acting on a tip-off received on Wednesday night from the Gujarat ATS, a team led by Police Sub-Inspector J.C. Desai kept watch near the Kotarpur Pumping Station on the road leading towards the airport. At around 2:00 am, police intercepted a white Maruti Ertiga (registration number GJ-01-MT-2600) coming from the Himmatnagar side. Upon searching the vehicle, officers found a newborn baby in the possession of the three occupants.

During on-site interrogation, the accused confessed to purchasing the infant from an individual named Yunus for ₹3.60 lakh. They were allegedly planning to transport the baby to Hyderabad and hand over the child to an agent named Nagaraj.

The arrested persons have been identified as Vandana Panchal (34) from Odhav, Ahmedabad, Roshan alias Sajjan Agrawal (42), a resident of Hyderabad, Telangana, and Sumit Yadav (27) from Vatva, Ahmedabad. The FIR also names Yunus, who allegedly sold the baby, and Nagaraj, the intended buyer.

Police seized Rs 10,050 in cash, four mobile phones worth around Rs 55,000, and the Maruti Ertiga vehicle used for transportation. The rescued newborn has been handed over to a child care coordination centre for protection and medical care. An FIR has been registered under Sections 143(4), 137(2), and 61(2)(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Sections 81 and 87 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. DeshGujarat