Delhi police have arrested three women and a man for allegedly kidnapping a two-and-a-half-year-old boy and putting him up for sale on WhatsApp for Rs1.8 lakh (US$2,800), according to media reports.
After being held for over three weeks, the boy, who was abducted outside Jama Masjid, was reunited with his parents. The child, who had come to the mosque with his family on the evening of June 5 for iftar, reportedly went missing when prayers were being held.
The suspects, identified as Radha, 40, Sonia, 24, Saroj, 34, and Jaan Mohammad, 40, were arrested on Thursday. Police suspect they were part of an illegal adoption and surrogacy racket, according to the Times of India.
A woman contacted police after seeing the child’s picture, which was being circulated on the messaging app Whatsapp, and informed them that the boy was being sold to a childless couple whom she knew, PTI reported. The woman got in touch with Saroj on the couple’s behalf, and he informed her that the child was being held in Gurgaon.