A childless couple from the Eluru district, who have been married for 10 years, migrated to a village in the neighbouring Krishna district in 2025. Ten months later, the woman, Susheela (name changed), returned to her native village, claiming that she had delivered a baby through IVF, a process in which pregnancy is established through implanting an embryo, formed from the woman’s eggs and the man’s sperm in a laboratory, in the uterus.

Having faced social stigma and pressure within the family after trying and failing multiple times to conceive a baby, the couple approached a woman, Farheena, in Krishna district, who is allegedly a part of a child trafficking gang. The couple procured a baby from Farheena and returned to their native village in Krishna district.

However, the couple landed in trouble as they were allegedly involved in child trafficking, with police intensifying their probe into the baby-selling cases in the State.

The vigilance against child trafficking and child-selling gangs has been intensified in the State, Director General of Police (DGP) Harish Kumar Gupta told The Hindu.

Traffickers from Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Telangana and other States have been visiting Andhra Pradesh and carrying out illegal operations freely over the last couple of years.

Multiple gangs have been operating from A.P. and are believed to have sold about 25 children in the last few months. Traffickers allegedly sold babies kidnapped from the State in different parts of the country and vice versa, the police said.

Wide network in play

In most cases, the accused were found to be women with a wide network of accomplices in neighbouring States.

“Balagam Sarojini, alias Sarojini of Vijayawada, Farheena, and Amudalapalli Satya Mani are involved in child trafficking. Sarojini is allegedly involved in about ten child-selling cases in A.P., Telangana and other States, along with her accomplice Farheena. Satya Mani, a native of Vijayawada, was earlier arrested by the Nunna police in NTR district, the Suryapet police in Telangana, and also by Krishna district police,” Superintendent of Police, Krishna district, V. Vidya Sagar Naidu, who is monitoring the probe into an abduction case, said.

According to the police, women aged between 20 and 30 years allegedly transport infants to A.P. from different places, posing as mothers and keep them in care centres run by traffickers and eventually sell the babies to childless couples for hefty sums.

Traffickers reportedly have links with child-abducting gangs in other States. They appoint women transporters who could speak Hindi, men for protection, and mediators. Additionally, caretakers were also appointed in the centres to look after the infants until they were sold.

“Child-selling gangs develop a network in government and private hospitals and fertility centres. The accused paid money to nurses, laboratory staff and Class-IV employees who agreed to share details of couples undergoing long-term fertility treatment. Some ayahs and nurses alert traffickers when unmarried or deserted women give birth to babies in hospitals,” the police said.

“The selling price of the infants ranged from ₹2-₹10 lakh. However, the price varied depending on the demand from childless couples,” Naidu said.

The vigilance against such gangs in the State has been intensified, Director General of Police (DGP) Harish Kumar Gupta told The Hindu.

Six babies abducted, sold

In a recent case in Krishna district, an eight-member child trafficking gang allegedly sold six babies to childless couples in different parts of Andhra Pradesh, and the district police busted the racket and rescued three babies.

The matter came to light after a gang of five members abducted a 10-month-old baby boy from a female beggar, Sumamma, in Vijayawada and sold the child to a couple in Machilipatnam earlier this year, on April 17.

Penamaluru police in Krishna district arrested nine accused and recovered three babies. Police seized ₹90,500 and ₹80,500 in two phases. A hunt has been launched to trace the remaining infants, investigating officers said.

“The modus operandi of the gang was to procure babies from poor women and sell them to childless couples. Out of six babies, the accused procured four babies and abducted the other two. We are trying to trace the rest of the missing infants and their mothers,” the Krishna district SP told The Hindu.

Those arrested include Gunjala Venkata Naga Srinivasa Rao, Shaik Rehana, Komiri Kali, Gandikota Guramma, Ganta Mary, Paidimarthi Kanakamma, Gandikota Yesubabu, Amarapu Sarada and Satya Mani, all natives of Krishna and NTR districts.

“The gang confessed to selling six babies. In two cases, the gang abducted infants, and the remaining four babies were procured from mothers, and the accused sold them,” Naidu said.

He added that the agents convinced childless couples to buy babies, and the price varied depending on the desperation of the couples to have children. The accused paid between ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 to agents and nurses. The rescued babies were handed over to the WD&CW Department officials for care and protection, the SP said.

Beggars targeted

“The reason a few mothers sold their babies was poverty, while the others sold their babies because they had given birth to several babies. The accused targeted women seeking alms at temples and public places and offered them paltry sums for each baby. The gang chose beggars to avoid complaints,” Penamaluru police, who are investigating the case, said.

In a similar incident, a missing child case led police to a child trafficking racket in which three minors, including two girls, were rescued in January, earlier this year. The accused had allegedly sold three children aged around 10 years to duck rearers in Nandyal district.

The accused – T. Prasad, Kandula Edukondalu, and his wife K. Lakshmi – natives of Annavaram village in Nandyal district, who later settled in Machilipatnam, allegedly kidnapped two girls and a boy belonging to the Yerukala Scheduled Tribe community, Robertsonpet police said, adding that the children were allegedly used as labourers by duck rearers.

Meanwhile, Mudinepalli police in Eluru district busted a gang and rescued five babies. The police arrested the alleged kingpin, Sarojini, and her accomplice, Farheena.

“Based on a complaint lodged by District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) Ch. Surya Chakraveni, police registered a case and rescued babies from Bhimavaram, Razole, Visakhapatnam and other places in the State. More accused are likely to be arrested,” said SP K. Pratap Shiva Kishore.

Kaikalur Rural Circle Inspector V. Ravi Kumar said the accused Sarojini was also facing charges in egg donation and surrogacy rackets in A.P. and other States.

“Sarojini has encouraged poor women to donate eggs and bear children through surrogacy,” the police said.

Surya Chakraveni said the gang contacted a nurse in a private hospital who allegedly sold babies to traffickers. The rescued babies in the Mudinepalli case were safe in a government-run Sishu Gruha, the DCPO said.

“We did not know the seriousness of child-selling cases and merely helped a couple get a child. Suddenly, police summoned us, and we are now facing investigation,” a woman, who acted as a mediator in one of the cases, said.

Several couples, unaware of the legal procedure for adoption or unwilling to wait for a long period to get babies through the WD&CW Department, are being lured by the traffickers with the assurance of getting babies.

“Childless couples, after making rounds of maternity hospitals and IVF centres, are approaching people, who in most cases turn out to be child traffickers,” a police officer said.

‘Simpler adoption process need of hour’

Eluru Deputy Superintendent of Police D. Sravan Kumar stated that the adoption process through the State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA) should be simplified to prevent child trafficking and sales.

NTR Police Commissioner S.V. Rajashekar Babu said Nunna police had earlier unearthed a child trafficking gang and rescued six babies. Police arrested Farheena, Sk. Saidabi, Kovvarapu Karuna Sri and Pedala Sirisha, natives of Ajit Singh Nagar in Vijayawada, in March last year.

Sarojini reportedly procured seven infants from Preethi Kiran of New Delhi and Anil of Ahmedabad. She shifted the babies to Vijayawada with the help of Farheena and Saidabi and kept them in a self-operated baby care centre in Vijayawada’s Prakash Nagar.

“Pedala Sirisha and Kovvarapu Karuna Sri used to take care of the infants in the baby care centre, while the other gang members collected details of childless couples from fertility centres,” the Police Commissioner said.

The prime accused, Sarojini, reportedly sold more than 20 babies. She was arrested earlier in similar cases in Mumbai and in Hyderabad’s Medipally and was later released on bail. Police recovered ₹4 lakh in cash from the gang in Vijayawada, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) K.G.V. Saritha said.