19 April,2025 12:53 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
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An official on Sunday said that Mumbai police have arrested a woman dentist from Kolkata in connection with the trafficking of two children, reported news agency PTI.
A team from the Wadala Truck Terminus police station apprehended the accused, Reshma Santosh Kumar Banerjee, last week and rescued a two-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl in the operation, the official said, reported PTI.
According to the police, a contractor had approached them with a complaint in May 2024 about the abduction of his son-in-law and toddler grandson.
The official said a probe revealed that the complainant's son-in-law had sold the child for Rs 1.6 lakh to the accused, Asma Shaikh, Sharif Shaikh and Asha Pawar, reported PTI.
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He said the police subsequently arrested the child's father and the three other accused, who informed the police that they had sold the boy to a woman at Bhubaneswar railway station in Odisha, reported PTI.
On April 5 this year, the police received information that the woman worked at a dental hospital in Bhubaneshwar, and upon reaching the city, they found out about her identity and whereabouts in Kolkata, reported PTI.
The police nabbed the accused woman and rescued the complainant's grandson and an unidentified three-year-old girl.
The official said the accused woman and children were brought to Mumbai, and she was placed under arrest on April 13.
In a significant breakthrough, the Mumbai Police have rescued a 15-year-old girl from a prostitution racket operating in the western suburbs of the city. The authorities have also arrested a woman allegedly involved in the trafficking network, according to PTI.
The operation was carried out by officials from the Crime Branch's Unit 8 following a credible tip-off. As per PTI reports, the team swiftly organised a decoy operation and sent an undercover officer posing as a customer to a hotel in Andheri, a bustling locality in suburban Mumbai known for its commercial activity.
Once the trap was successfully laid, the officers moved in and apprehended the woman who had allegedly brought the minor to the hotel for illicit purposes. According to sources cited by PTI, the arrested woman was acting as a pimp and had been involved in the exploitation of the girl under the guise of offering employment.
"With the assistance of social workers, our team was able to safely rescue the minor girl from the hotel premises," an official from the Crime Branch confirmed, as per PTI. The rescued girl has since been placed under the care of child welfare authorities, and counselling sessions are being arranged to ensure her emotional and psychological recovery.
(With inputs from PTI)
