Anita Sen surrenders before court

HYDERABAD, MAY 19. One of the key figures in the child adoption racket, Anita Sen of Precious Moments, surrendered before the IXth Metropolitan Magistrate here this afternoon. Anita Sen, who carried a reward of Rs. 5 lakhs, was remanded to judicial custody till May 30 and shifted to Chanchalguda prison.

Amid high drama that lasted nearly three hours, Anita Sen, who happens to be the wife of senior IPS officer, Mr. Swaranjit Sen, was escorted away from the court premises by a team of CID personnel. The request for police remand on behalf of the CID has been posted for Monday for arguments.

Clad in white salwar kameez and maintaining her composure, Anita Sen spoke briefly to mediapersons and claimed she was innocent. "All the charges (of buying and selling children) are false," she said with a smile even as she was driven away. She, however, hastened to add, "I have surrendered and not been arrested by the police."

Earlier, Anita Sen, accompanied by her two sons, Stephen and Monty, and her advocate, Mr. Uma Maheshwar Rao, came to the Criminal Courts complex around 12-30 p.m. Police which got wind of the news soon landed up at the court.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police, CID, Mr. Chakradhar Rao, told mediapersons that Anita Sen would be taken into custody on Monday. He denied any prior information of her movements and plans to surrender. He maintained that the CID had enough evidence against her and other persons involved with Precious Moments.

Anita Sen, along with her associate, Sarita Bandala, had been on the run after the authorities rescued 61 children from Precious Moments and shifted them to Sishu Vihar. Sarita was taken into police custody from a corporate hospital on Thursday.

The CID officials denied reports that Sarita was picked up following information furnished by her husband, Mr. B. Ashok Kumar and that he had staked claim for the Rs. 5-lakh reward announced on her.

In a related development, two of Anita Sen's alleged accomplices - Renuka and Samuel - who were charged with kidnapping 10-year- old Haribabu and selling him to Precious Moments, were arrested and produced before the IXth Metropolitan Magistrate, Mr. N. Anand Rao. They were also remanded for judicial custody till May 30.

Meanwhile, three more kids who were rescued from adoption centres were restored to their families at Sishu Vihar.

While Haribabu was handed over to his parents - Shantamma and Peter - the authorities handed over Nagalaxmi and Vighneshwar Reddy to their mother, Kavita. All these children were rescued from Precious Moments on April 26.

A tearful reunion was witnessed at Sishu Vihar with the parents hugging and kissing their children.

Our Visakhapatnam Staff Reporter writes:

The Sishu Greh of the Priyadarsini Service Organisation here would be closed and the inmates would be handed over to the Women and Child Welfare Department, its secretary and former MLA of Payakaraopeta, Ms. Gantela Sumana, said here on Saturday.

This decision was taken as the funds were not being released and in the recent past the department officials had visited the premises after the adoption racket in Hyderabad came to light, leading to adverse publicity to the Sishu Greh. The Sishu Greh was being closed to avoid mental tension, she told a press conference.She clarified that there were 15 inmates in the Sishu Greh and seven of them, who needed primary education, were kept in the school being run for tribal children, being run by Priyadarsini.

Anita Sen, who surrendered before court in Hyderabad on Saturday, seen on its premises along with her lawyers.