In a macabre twist to the ongoing investigation into the infant trafficking racket in West Bengal, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Friday dug out skeletons of two babies from the backyard of Sujit Dutta Memorial Trust, a non-governmental-organisation (NGO) functioning at Baduria in North 24 Parganas and recovered ten newborns from Purbasha Home, an old age home for the mentally challenged at Thakurpukur in South 24 Parganas.
“The geographical distance between the two sites points at the expanse of the baby-trafficking racket. Many more nursing homes across the State are under the scanner for their involvement in the racket, and some are currently being raided for more information,” a top CID official said.
The CID got more information about the racket following the arrest of two operatives on Thursday from South View Nursing Home at James long Sarani in South Kolkata.
“The information provided by the accused led the investigating teams to Baduria. Apart from the skeletons which were dug out from the Sujit Dutta Memorial Trust’s compound, ten baby girls aged between one to nine months were also recovered from Purbasha Home at Thakurpukur following a tip off,” said Additional Director General of Police, CID, Rajesh Kumar.
Behind the veneer of a charitable school and hospital, the Sujit Dutta Memorial Trust ran a baby-trafficking racket.
“The traffickers and the nursing home authorities in connivance with some doctors sold the little ones. They might have sold out at least 50 babies till now,” the ADG said.
Those babies who died in transit or mishandling were buried in the compound of the NGO. Those who survived were wrapped in cotton and packed inside small cardboard boxes before being shipped out to other shelters like the one at Thakurupukur, officers said.
Giving the modus operandi, officers said the traffickers got the newborn babies from unmarried girls who either gave them up or sold them. They also stole them from gullible mothers who were falsely informed that they had given birth to a stillborn child.
One of the babies recovered from Purbasha Home was suffering from thallassimia, another was spastic while a third one was dehydrated, sources said. They are currently admitted to Thakurpukur ESI Hospital.
Meanwhile, the CID also recovered a huge amount of currency notes in the form of US and Hong Kong dollars from Partho Chatterjee the owner of Sri Krishna Nursing Home in College Street in North 24 Parganas.
He was arrested along with a doctor and some midwives a couple of days ago on charges of being a key cog in the racket. The officials did not rule out international links of the racketeers. “Foreign currencies do point to a bigger international racket. However, we will investigate where the dollars came from before coming to any conclusion,” an official said.
Purbasha Home seemed to be one of those hideouts where the stolen babies were temporarily parked till they found customers. The prime accused had fled, abandoning the infants at the old age home, sources said.
State Women’s and Child Welfare Minister Shashi Panja on Friday said her department was keeping a close eye on the investigations and would take all necessary steps. Meanwhile, a PIl had been filed in the Calcutta High Court seeking a CBI enquiry into the case.