A 38-day-old male infant sold for Rs 1.3 lakh was rescued by police after the sellers fought among themselves over sharing the money.
Police discovered the baby sale by sheer chance.
Priyadarshini, a sub-inspector from the Wilson Garden police station, saw two men and a woman fighting over some matter recently. When she intervened, the men escaped but she managed to detain the woman, who gave her name as Tarannum Banu, 38.
Banu told the sub-inspector that she and the two men were fighting over sharing money but wouldn't reveal the source of the money. Banu was taken to the police station and questioned intensely. She eventually spilled the beans.
According to Banu, one of the men was Mubarak Pasha, the infant's father. He had an affair with a woman who worked as domestic help at Banu's house. The affair resulted in the birth of the male infant.
Pasha wanted to get rid of the baby, so he teamed up with Banu and a friend named Nishat Kausar, 45. The trio looked for childless couple. They struck a deal with a man named Savodh, 51, who didn't have kids. He agreed to pay them Rs 1.5 lakh for the baby. He paid Rs 50,000 upfront and promised to pay the rest a few days later. The baby's mother was kept in the dark.
Meanwhile, the baby developed a cold. Banu and Pasha volunteered to take it to the doctor but instead handed it over to Savodh and cooked up a story that it was stolen in the hospital.
The trio fought among themselves after Banu refused to share the Rs 50,000 with Pasha and Kausar. Police rescued the infant from Savodh's house and returned it to the mother. Banu, Kausar and Savodh have been arrested while Pasha is at large.