Kolkata: Nursing home owner held for child trafficking

Kolkata: In a major breakthrough, the state crime branch department on Thursday arrested the owner of a private nursing home in College Street and an active worker of NGO Subodh Memorial Trust for their  involvement in the child trafficking racket of Baduria in North 24 Parganas. The sleuths had busted the racket a few days ago. Partha Chatterjee, the nursing home owner, was picked up from an apartment in Sealdah area on Wednesday night while Marefa Bibi of Machlandapur, Habra, was nabbed on Thursday evening, taking the total arrests in the case to 14.

The nursing home at College Street has been under the scanner after the sleuths picked up Dr Santosh Kumar Samanta from his Jessore Road residence on Wednesday evening. “Dr Samanta has been associated with this nursing home since 2012. He used to charge Rs 60,000- Rs 70,000 for the birth of a child. The doctor who used to work there before Dr Samanta was associated with the nursing home since 1990. We are also looking for him,” DIG, CID, Bharat Lal Meena said.

After birth, Dr Samanta used to dispose them through one of his associates. The associate is still a missing link in the case. The three female accused, Putul, Prava and Paromita, who were arrested on Tuesday night, have been involved in trafficking of newborns from two nursing homes to Subodh Memorial Trust at Baduria for their sale to childless couples.

State food minister Jyotipiya Mallick, who is also an MLA from the Habra constituency, claimed on Thursday that the NGO used to receive Central grant of Rs 18 to Rs 20 lakh a year. “We knew nothing of this grant before the racket was busted,” Mr Mallick said.

Though the CID is still in dark about the number of babies trafficked, the College Street nursing home is believed to be involved in the racket for long. “Both Dr Samanta and Dr Tapan Biswas, associated with the Thakurnagar nursing home and is at large, are main accused in the racket,” an official said.