How Gurgaon cab driver helped arrest infant traffickers

Said Umesh, “On the way, they kept getting several calls. I could overhear some words… ‘how many kids? Two… Rs 3 lakh… deal… Alwar’. On another call, one of the women, carrying an infant, insisted that they wanted Rs 3 lakh for the deal and not Rs 2.5 lakh and threatened to call it off.”

He said near Mahipalpur, they asked him if he would take them to Alwar: “When I said it would cost Rs 3,000, they offered more — Rs 4,000… On two occasions, in Delhi and Kherki Daula, they did not let me stop for CNG and even offered to pay for petrol if I drove fast… They seemed to be in a hurry, but I didn’t think much of it.”

At Manesar, one of the accused asked him to stop to buy milk for the infants, who had been crying.

“There, they got another phone call and the accused said the deal was off. They asked me if I would take them back to Raghubir Nagar, Delhi. My suspicions were confirmed. I agreed and, in my mind, decided to inform police. I had met the SHO of DLF Phase 3 police station recently for a meeting and he had asked me to report any suspicious activity in our daily business,” said Umesh.

He added that when they were near IFFCO Chowk, he made an excuse and parked the car to answer the nature’s call. “I walked for a few metres and called a friend, who had the SHO’s contact. The SHO told me to drive to Shankar Chowk, where police had set up a barricade. There, a policeman stopped us and sat in the car. He told the accused that since they were not wearing masks, they were being taken to the station for a challan. It was a risk if my suspicion was wrong, but I had to take it considering the safety of the children,” he said.

Manoj Kumar, SHO, DLF Phase 3 police station, said, “We had held a meeting with cab drivers in the area recently, which has many call centres and MNCs, and told them to report any such suspicious activity. On Friday, this driver reported that he suspected his passengers were involved in trafficking. We told him to drive towards Moulsari Avenue and tell his passengers that he had to take a detour to run a small errand. The accused were then interrogated and taken into custody.”

Police on Sunday said they had arrested two more persons for their alleged involvement in the racket. Five people, including four women, have been arrested so far.