Child trafficking racket: couple who sold baby boy still at large

Khandeshwar police get custody of one accused, visit seller’s residence at Govandi

The Khandeshwar police on Wednesday took custody of Sujata Potdar, who was wanted in a case of kidnapping and trafficking of a seven-day-old boy, from the Mumbra police.

Ms. Potdar has revealed that her partner Raju alias Dilshad Maksood Alam (35), who is also in the Mumbra police’s custody, got the baby from a couple in Govandi, around eight months ago. The complaint lodged by sub-inspector Gahininath Gorakh Satav of the Mahim police station, too, named a couple — Abid Babu Sayyed (28) and Shabnam Bano Mohammed Shareef Khan (24) — from Shivaji Nagar in Govandi, for selling the child.

Mr. Satav had learnt of the trafficking case while investigating a kidnapping in Mahim, where Ms. Potdar and Mr. Alam were named. He then registered cases with the Mumbra and the Khandeshwar police against the duo.

“On Thursday, we took the help of the Shivaji Nagar police, and along with Ms. Potdar, went looking for the couple but found the door of their house closed. Their neighbours told us that they have shifted from there,” assistant police inspector Nandu Sawant from the Khandeshwar police station said.

He said until the police nab the couple, they cannot verify if the baby belonged to them or had been trafficked from somewhere. “Once Mr. Alam is in our custody, we might get more clues about the couple,” Mr. Sawant said.

Ms. Potdar has also revealed that the baby boy was sold to a couple from Pune for ₹3.2 lakh. The deal was sealed at the residence of the Pune-based couple’s relative in Panvel on December 1, 2018. She is in police custody till August 9.

The racket came to light following the abduction of an infant outside Mahim railway station in June. On June 26, a two-month-old baby, who was sleeping with his twin brother and parents on the pavement outside Mahim station, was stolen after midnight. Around 2 a.m., when the mother found the baby missing, the family approached the Government Railway Police in Dadar.

Senior inspector Prasad Pandhre and team found the baby and arrested kidnapper Shahbaz Shaikh (26), who said Ms. Potdar and Mr. Alam had promised him ₹35,000 for providing a baby boy. The case was then transferred to the Mahim police station, where Mr. Satav, during his investigations, found that the duo had committed similar crimes at Mumbra and Khandeshwar.