In a chilling development, police on Monday arrested the district child protection officer of Jalpaiguri for her alleged role in the infant trafficking run by local NGO Bimala Sishu Griho.
The State Crime Investigation Department (CID) arrested suspended DCPO Sasmita Ghosh after three rounds of interrogations. Ghosh was earlier suspended by district Collector Rachna Bhagat after she failed to defend herself against the show-cause notice slapped on her by the DM.
Fastened in a fiduciary relationship with the orphans one is duty-bound to look after Ghosh tended to make child-racketing a family affair, sources allege while the CID sleuths earlier arrested her close relative Mirnal Ghosh the district child protection officer of Darjeeling a few days ago on same charges.
Curiously Mrinal, an officer who was awarded by the State Government for his “exemplary works”, was earlier arrested along with a district child welfare committee member Debashis Chanda for their alleged role in infant trafficking.
Monday’s development is a part of a widening probe into the adoption racket at the Bimal Sishu Griho an NGO run by prime accused Chandana Chakrabarty a school teacher who was earlier arrested along with Juhi Chwodhury a local politician. Others arrested in the case are Sonali Mondal, the chief adoption officer of the NGO and Manas Bhaumik.
The accused have been charged with selling scores of children to foreigners by forging papers and striking shifty adoption deals.
The CID had in November 2016 unearthed an infant-trafficking racket in North 24 Parganas and Behala in Kolkata. The earlier incident also led to the arrests of a number of politicians.
Close on the heels of the Jalpaiguri incident another infant-trafficking racket was unearthed at Falta in South 24 Parganas from where dozens of babies were sold out. The police are trying to find out a link if any between the rackets functioning in North and South Bengal.