New Delhi: They targeted vulnerable individuals, often at bus stops or railway stations, by befriending them and obtaining their travel details. This was how Suresh Kumar’s six-month-old son was kidnapped from the bus terminal at Sarai Kale Khan last month. But that act exposed the illegal adoption racket and led to the arrest of the main players and the rescue of six new-born babies on Monday.Speaking to TOI, Kumar said he travelled from his village in Banda, Uttar Pradesh, and was at ISBT Sarai Kale Khan on Aug 22 to catch a bus to Behror in Rajasthan, where he works as a brickmaker. He was accompanied by his wife and four children. A man approached him at the terminal. “It was between 9pm and 9.30 pm when I was going to a hotel to get food for my family. He asked, ‘Aur bhai, kaha jaana (Where are you going?)’ I told him I was going to Behror. When he asked about the departure time, I told him there were several buses and I would take one of them,” recalled Kumar.Later that night, while the family slept, the traffickers abducted their son. “When I woke up, my boy was missing. I searched for him frantically, contacted police and announcements were made at ISBT,” Kumar said. CCTV footage later showed a man carrying away the baby. “The baby needed his mother’s milk. My wife was very worried about how he would survive and kept crying.”Kumar lost all hope until Sept 4, when he was at the Hazrat Nizamuddin police post and received news that his child had been found. “I cannot put into words how I felt. I saw the man whom I had met at ISBT and asked him why he had kidnapped my child. He had no answer,” the happy father said.Without a permanent home or the means to build one, Kumar frequently moves from place to place for work, increasing the family’s vulnerability. “As a labourer, I earn just Rs 500-600 per day, so it is quite impossible for me to save much,” said Kumar.Hemant Tiwari, DCP (Southeast) disclosed that along with Kumar’s baby, police rescued five other children and arrested 10 people involved in the racket from different parts of UP. The police operation was led by inspector Rajender Dagar. The cops surmise that the gang stationed members outside small hospitals in UP and other states. They kept an eye on patients, especially poor women seeking childbirth services. They tempted them with assurance of free delivery and money for their babies.
