Sting operation saves 42-day-old girl from traffickers

THANE: The Thane Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) has arrested four individuals, including the biological mother of a 42-day-old girl, for allegedly attempting to sell the infant for ₹4 lakh. The arrests were made on Tuesday at Sahajanand Chowk in Kalyan West.

The arrested accused are Dipali Anil Dusing (27), the infant’s mother, Vaishali Kishor Sonawane (35), a middlewoman and her accomplice Rekha Balu Sonawane (32), and Kishor Ramesh Sonawane (34), an autorickshaw driver.

Acting on a tip-off, senior inspector Chetna Chaudhary and sub-inspector Snehal Shinde of the AHTU led a team to conduct a sting operation. Posing as a buyer, a decoy client contacted the middlewoman, Vaishali, who confirmed the availability of a 42-day-old baby girl for ₹4 lakh. Vaishali arranged a meeting near Sahajanand Chowk for the transaction.

The AHTU team laid a trap and apprehended all four accused when they presented the infant to the decoy client for inspection. Further investigations revealed that the infant’s mother, Dipali, lived near Kalyan railway station and has three other children - a 5-year-old son and two daughters aged 7 and 9. The children were immediately taken into protective custody. The boy has been placed in Janani Ashish Balgruha in Dombivli MIDC and the two girls at Neela Balsadan, Ambernath.

The mother, Dipali, who lived with her four children on a railway bridge and relied on begging for survival, decided to sell her infant after being abandoned by her husband. She had agreed to sell the child for ₹1.20 lakh in the deal.

The Mahatma Phule police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Juvenile Justice Act.