Illegal adoption angle, medical links emerge in Bareilly child trafficking probe, nurse among 6 held

During the course of the investigation, police traced the alleged involvement of Uttam Vajpayee, who was arrested and sent to jail on May 29. His interrogation subsequently led investigators to what they describe as a larger child trafficking network, resulting in the arrest of Sanjay Kumar Vishwas, Keshavram alias Manjesh and Seeta on May 30.

The police said in a press statement that the accused told investigators that they had been involved in taking and selling children through Uttam Vajpayee and other members of the network.

Bareilly Additional Superintendent of Police (South) Anshika Verma, who led the investigation, said the accused were connected through Uttam, who acted as a mediator between kidnappers and people working in the medical field. According to Verma, Seeta was a nurse in a government hospital in Bareilly, while Keshavram alias Manjesh ran a clinic in Lakhimpur Kheri despite lacking a medical degree.

Sanjay Kumar Vishwas, a BHMS degree holder, operated a hospital in Sitapur where surgeries were also being performed. “Uttam used to connect people in the medical field to the next person,” Verma said. Police said individuals associated with the medical sector had easier access to newborn and very young children.

She added that investigators came across instances where women who did not wish to keep a child were paid to continue their pregnancies and hand over the newborn after delivery. “Sometimes they (accused) used to pay the women who would conceive a child but did not want the child. They would pay her to complete nine months of pregnancy and then undergo surgery to get the child, and then that child was sold,” she added.

Police said they have so far identified three children allegedly trafficked through the network. While the child whose abduction triggered the investigation was rescued, two other infants aged two and ten days, at the time they were allegedly sold, are yet to be traced. “As of now, it looks like an illegal adoption racket, but we cannot say for sure if it is only for adoption because we have not been able to reach those children,” Verma said.

Police believe the accused had been active in the network for nearly a year. “There is a bigger racket and we are trying to investigate that,” Verma said, adding that tracing the two missing children would provide a clearer picture of the network’s functioning.

A key aspect of the investigation is the alleged role of the nurse Seeta, who, according to Verma, had links with IVF centres in Gurugram, Delhi and other parts of Uttar Pradesh. Police also found that her contact number had been saved by several people under names such as “Seeta Donor” and “Seeta Agent”. Investigators are examining these links as part of their efforts to understand how the alleged network operated and whether it was connected to illegal adoptions.

“We are trying to reach the buyers. We have some leads, so maybe in some time we will reach them as well,” Verma said. The accused have been charged under Sections 143(4) (trafficking of persons), 137(2) (kidnapping) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

-Shruti Gupta is an intern at The Indian Express