Four persons, including a nurse at a Primary Health Centre at Cherangode in Pandalur, were arrested on Monday when they tried to sell an 11-day-old child for ₹ 5 lakh.
The arrested were: Reshma Banu, 35, from Gudalur; S. Elizbeth, 48, the nurse at the Primary Health Centre; Ravichandran from Erumadu; and Kathiresan from Kolappalli, who acted as middleman in trying to sell the child.
The police said that S. Maheshwari delivered the boy two weeks ago. She already have two children. As both she and her husband were daily wage workers, she told the nurse, Elizabeth, that she wanted to give the child for adoption.
The nurse, along with her friend, Reshma Banu, got the help of Ravichandran and Kathiresan, to help sell the child illegally. They approached many quoting ₹ 5 lakh for the child.
One of the person who they approached tipped off Childline. A team of police posing as buyers approached Reshma Banu offering ₹ 5 lakh, which led to the arrests.
Child Trafficking Wing Inspector Akbar Khan said that the police had even filled a briefcase with fake paper currency to set up the trap. The four accused have been booked under sections 370 (buying or disposing of any person as a slave) read with Section 81 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
The police added that no action would be taken against the parents as they were not aware of the proper procedures of adoption.
