The Crime Branch (CB) probing the child trafficking cases informed a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court that the children were brought from other States on forged documents.
In a statement on Thursday, R. Sudhakaran Pillai, Deputy Superintendent of Police, CBCID, Palakkad, said that all the seized documents, including the consent letters of parents and birth certificates of 169 children from Mukkam orphanage, were suspected to be forged ones on preliminary verification. The main agents behind the incident had already been arrested. The document relating to the children brought from Jharkhand were also found to be forged.
The statement further said that the investigation had revealed that the main purpose behind the incident was to make good the dearth of orphans/destitute children in the orphanages in Kozhikode-Mukkam areas. The dearth of inmates in orphanages had adversely affected the collection and contribution of funds and getting government grants and other aids from local sources and outside the State.
The Crime Branch pointed out that there was no evidence regarding sexual exploitation, organ trade, and child labour. The investigation was being carried out in proper and effective manner.
The statement was filed in response to a public interest litigation seeking a CBI probe in the case.
