In Pune, Mother, 7 Others Arrested For Selling 4-Year-Old to Childless Couple

The Pune police have arrested a 24-year-old woman and seven others on the charges of selling her four-and-a-half-year-old son and then filing a false kidnapping case.

The arrested people have been identified as Priyanka Pawar, 24, a Kothrud resident and mother of the child; Jannat Bashir Shaikh, Bhanudas Mali, Chandrakala Mali, Deepak Mhatre, Sitabai Mhatre, and Tukaram Nimbale, and Reshma Sutar.

The boy, Neel Pawar, was rescued and handed to the father and other family members.

The boy’s mother had gone to the Kothrud police station at 5 p.m. on February 4 to file complaints against unidentified people for kidnapping her son at 2 p.m.

Deputy commissioner of police, zone III, Purnima Gaikwad said that the police had organised nine police squads from Kothrud, Warje, and Uttam Nagar. “We noticed that her neighbour was acting suspiciously when recreating the event as reported by the woman. We decided to question her to learn more about the situation ” Gaikwad explained.

According to information obtained from sources and technical analysis of CCTV footage from various locations in the Kothrud area, police teams led by ACP Rukmini Galande, senior inspectors Mahendra Jagtap and Shankar Katke confirmed Jannat Shaikh’s and the boy’s mother Priyanka’s involvement in the case.

According to the investigation, Priyanka was separated from her husband and the couple had two children: a four-year-old boy and a one-year-old brother.

Priyanka was unable to bear the responsibilities of two children, according to the police, and allegedly colluded with Jannat and Reshma Sutar to sell her eldest son Neel.

According to the police, they sold the boy to Bhanudas and Chandrakala Mali for Rs 1 lakh through a middleman named Nimbale. Mali then sold the boy for Rs 1.6 lakhs to Deepak and Sitabai Mhatre, according to the police.

“We are probing whether there was any broader conspiracy,” DCP Gaikwad said during a press briefing on Monday when asked if there are any child trafficking links to this case. The case was solved in less than 24 hours, and the boy’s mother and her accomplices have so far been found with cash or Rs 81,000.

The accused who bought the boy said they were unable to have a kid and hence committed the crime. However, an investigation is underway to confirm the facts and roles of all those implicated. The accused have been detained in police custody until February 9 for additional investigation.”

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