6-month-old baby put up for sale for ₹2.5 lakh in Idukki; 3 arrested amid child trafficking concerns

Kattappana: Three people, including a couple, have been arrested for allegedly attempting to sell a six-month-old baby boy for Rs 2.5 lakh in Kerala's Idukki district.

The arrests were made by the Kattappana police following a tip-off from the intelligence wing. The accused allegedly brought the child to a location near the Kattappana Village Office to complete the deal.

Those arrested are Pradeep Das (26), a native of Muktaapur in Assam, his wife Shima Das (28), and Jadu Gogoi (39), also known as Raju, a native of Golaghat in Assam. Gogoi allegedly acted as the middleman in the proposed sale.

According to the police, the three were attempting to sell the six-month-old boy, whom they claimed was their child.

During questioning, Gogoi reportedly told the police that the couple had decided to sell the baby because they were facing financial difficulties. He said this was why he had agreed to act as an intermediary. 

The police are yet to establish further details about the alleged transaction and the circumstances surrounding the child's presence with the accused.

Earlier cases raise concerns over infant trafficking

The latest incident comes amid several reports of alleged attempts to buy and sell newborn babies in Kerala. In July, a probe into an alleged racket in Theekoy, Kottayam, found evidence suggesting that an infant had been sold earlier. In August, two people were arrested over an alleged attempt to sell a two-week-old baby at SAT Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, where investigators also found suspected forged documents. In October, the State Child Rights Commission registered a case following reports that a group was approaching unmarried mothers in Alappuzha to buy their babies.