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Child trafficking racket: 7 more gang members arrested in TN

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Tirunelveli (TN), June 11: The ongoing investigations by Tamil Nadu police into the busting of a state-wide network of child trafficking have led to the arrest of seven more gang members today, including five women, taking the total number of those held to 11. Acting on a tip-off by five persons working for a man running a children's home in Valiyoor in the district and a woman, police arrested the seven persons.

The lady had filed a complaint before the Village Administrative Officer at Tenkasi near here, saying that a woman had assured her that her four-year-old daughter would be housed in the children's home in Valiyoor, but had not done so, DIG (Tirunelveli range) P Kanappan told reporters here.

Two of the gang members had earlier been arrested in 2003 in a child trafficking case, he said.

The DIG said only one of the 60 children's homes in Tirunelveli district had valid registration documents. A total of 25 children from these homes had been sold at Rs 40,000-Rs 50,000 over a period of time under the pretext of adoption, he said.

The child trafficking racket was unearthed during investigations into the recent attempted kidnap of a girl by a woman from a government hospital in Tiruchirapalli.

Seven children have so far been rescued and five have been handed over to their parents

2009 Jun 11