This world is a beautiful place to live in. However, you often bump into stories which send a shiver down your spine and makes you think otherwise. Yes, there is no denying the barbarous criminal activities that are a reality amidst the daily grind. And here is one, which will most definitely, give you goosebumps.
In a gut-wrenching incident, the Mumbai Police has busted an international child trafficking racket that allegedly sent at least 300 children from India to the US. Kingpin Rajubhai Gamlewala aka Rajubhai has also been taken into custody who charged Rs 45 lakh per child from his clients, according to TOI.
Some of the gang members were arrested in March but the police are yet to find out what happened to the children after they were migrated to the United States.
Most of the children belong to the age group of 11-16 years and came from poor families in Gujarat. Whenever Rajubhai picked up an order from his clients, he asked his gang members to target poor families in the state, who were willing to let go of their child for money. Speaking of the same, a police officer said,
”Finding it difficult to take care of them, their parents or guardians would sell them.”
However, the dirty game had more to it. According to IBTimes, they would then hunt for families willing to rent their child’s passport. A passport with some resemblance to the child to be trafficked would then be selected. The children had to go through a strong makeup session to look similar to the picture on the passport.
Once the carrier returned, the gang would return the passport to the original holder.
The racket was busted by actor Preeti Sood in March when she got a call from a friend that two minors were being applied makeup at a Versova salon. On reaching the point thinking that they will be thrown to a brothel, Preeti discovered the horrific truth.
“I went there thinking that maybe the girls were being readied for brothels. Once there, I realised that the racket was bigger than I thought. When I asked them, the men claimed they were sending the children to their parents in the US. I asked them to accompany me to the police station, but they refused. I managed to stop two of the men and called the police. Meanwhile, the third escaped with the girls.”
Gamlewala will be in police custody till August 18. His four companions are in judicial custody. He has been booked under the IPC’s sections 34 (common intention) and 373 (buying minor for purposes of prostitution).
We sincerely hope for the police to track down the children who were transported to the US for the cause.