The Belagavi Child Protection Committee, in collaboration with the police, has uncovered an inter-state child trafficking racket and rescued a two-year-old girl who had been sold for Rs 4.5 lakh. The child is currently housed in a children’s home in Belagavi.
The primary accused, Rajendra Metri and his wife Shilpa Metri, residents of Sangli, Maharashtra, sold their daughter to Smitha Wadikar, a woman from Goa, with the help of middlemen from Belagavi and Maharashtra. The transaction came to light after the Belagavi Child Protection Committee received a tip-off regarding the sale.
The deal was arranged by middlemen Vandana Surave from Belagavi, along with Ravi Raut and his wife Rani Raut from Maharashtra, who met at a hotel in Joida, Uttara Kannada district. The Market police have registered a case and are continuing their investigation.
Police reports indicate that Vandana Surave, Ravi Raut, and Rani Raut are key players in the child trafficking operation, but in this case, the parents of the child are the primary offenders, with the woman from Goa identified as the third accused.
