• Source:JND
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Two members of an interstate child trafficking gang, Manik Haldar, 38, and Mukul Sarkar, 32, were arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) during a raid outside the Shalimar train station in Howrah on Sunday. During the raid, a two-day-old baby girl was saved and sent to the Howrah State Hospital.

Throughout the operation, the CID team received support and help from members of the non-governmental organisation Bachpan Bachao Andolan and officials from the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).

Speaking to the media, IG CID Akhilesh Chaturvedi said, “We became aware of their activities and deployed a decoy operation, placing our officers undercover as potential customers. The arrests were made when the suspects attempted to sell the two-day-old child. We are currently interrogating them to uncover further details and connections."

According sources cited by News18, this operation is part of a broader network operating throughout the state. While the group appears to have members in Bihar, there are signs of linkages to other states.

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According to reports, the traffickers attracted people who wished to adopt a kid by posing as an adoption agency on a Facebook page. After that, the accused would interact with these people online to learn more about their objectives and motives. They would move the conversation on WhatsApp to complete the illegal transaction after they were certain the people were not law enforcement officials.

The two-day-old baby was being auctioned for about Rs 4 lakh after being transported from Bihar to Shalimar. This well-organised scam has been going on for a while.

Authorities are looking into possible international links in this case since child trafficking is still a major problem on a global scale.