Newborn baby stolen and sold for Rs 1.5 lakh in Karnataka’s Ballari, four arrested

The police identified the arrested accused as Shamin Ismail, 25, Ismail Yacob Saab, 65, Basha Saab, 55, and Basavaraj Sajjan, 43.

According to the police officer, Sajjan had approached Ismail seeking help to adopt a child. However, Ismail had an alternative plan where he would kidnap a newborn baby and sell it to Sajjan. He was asked to make payments in two months.

After Sridevi filed a complaint at the Brucepet police station, Shobha Rani V J, Superintendent of Police, Ballari, formed a special investigative team, which tracked the kidnappers within 24 hours using CCTV footage and other technical evidence.

Recently, the neighbouring Vijayanagara district saw four arrests, including two ASHA workers, in a case where a baby girl was kidnapped and sold for Rs 10,000. The newborn was kidnapped from the government-run Mother and Child Hospital in Hospet and sold to one Karibasappa.

In August, the home department informed the Legislative Council that 13,552 children, including 9,789 girls, had been kidnapped across Karnataka since 2020. In July, Nischith, a 13-year-old boy, son of a lecturer, was kidnapped and murdered in Bengaluru by two men.

In July 2024, an 11-year-old girl was kidnapped and sold to an Andhra Pradesh man for Rs 35,000. The Tumakuru police rescued the girl and arrested the accused.