Brokers arrest brings to light sale of babies

MADURAI: The arrest of four brokers a couple of days ago and the arrest of a staff at the Government Rajaji Hospital  (GRH) on Sunday is set open a can of worms.Police suspect that a large network of brokers and GRH staff are involved in a baby trade racket. The incident came to light when Subramanian, one of the four brokers arrested, received a phone call from a woman, while he was being interrogated by the police. The woman was talking in a code language and she said that she got a reference from one Amirthavalli who was working in the GRH. Amirthavalli, who has more than 30 years of service in the hospital, was well acquainted with all the brokers and the hospital staff. Police, who took over the call from Subramanian, found that the woman was calling from Chennai and was negotiating a deal for a baby boy. Police convinced her to come down to Madurai and pay the necessary price, which was arrived at ` 7,000. She was instructed to pay `1,000 as advance. Without realising that it was a trap, she came down and was caught by the police.During interrogation, the woman revealed that she had been negotiating this deal for a long time and had learnt that babies could be bought from government hospitals sans much problem. It was also found that the woman’s husband was working as a Sub-Inspector of Police.Based on her complaint, the police have  registered a case and have arrested Amirthavalli.The accused in the case had admitted that they had sold three babies so far.Police say that their target are mostly patients admitted in maternity hospital. They approach unmarried mothers in the first place and mothers who already have children. At times, they also steal babies from the maternity ward when there was a demand. However, only one baby had been missing since last year and other missing cases reported were solved by the police.Police also suspect the involvement of a doctor in this racket. A doctor, on condition of anonymity, said that some preferred to buy newborns as they feel that legal adoption process was a laborious one. Chances were that some gang may buy girl children abandoned by their parents and later force them into flesh trade, he added.