Baby-trafficking racket busted

Mumbai: The Mumbai police have unearthed a major racket involving trafficking of newborns. A management student has been arrested in this connection. The police said they arrested Julia Fernandes, 29, after being tipped off that she was looking for childless couples who could be potential buyers of a newborn. An autorickshaw driver and his wife who sold their seven-day-old son to Fernandes for Rs 20,000 have also been arrested. The baby has been sent to a foster home. Explaining Fernandes' modus operandi, an officer from the Wadala Truck Terminal Police Station said the woman had handed over the baby purchased by her to an associate for safe-keeping. "Julia had told the woman that she had brought the baby from a nursing home for a few days to get him vaccinated," the officer said. tns

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