Khanna Police on Monday arrested six persons, including an ASHA worker, for allegedly procuring newborns from financially vulnerable families and facilitating their illegal adoption through an unauthorised network operating in the region.The accused in the custody of Khanna Police on Monday. (HT Photo)The officials also rescued a newborn during the operation and later reunited the infant with the biological mother.Superintendent of police (detective) Pawanjeet Chaudhary said police had received information regarding a group allegedly involved in taking custody of newborns from economically distressed families in exchange for money and arranging illegal adoptions through private channels.“Acting on the inputs, police teams conducted a raid in the Dana Mandi Road area and arrested three women — Kuldeep Kaur of Vijay Colony, Khamano Kalan, Harmeet Kaur of Natt village in Ludhiana district and Monika of Rahon village in Khanna. A newborn was rescued from their possession during the raid. Further investigation led to the arrest of three more accused — Daljit Singh and Manpreet Kaur, both residents of Pratap Nagar in Ludhiana, and Jasvir Kaur, an ASHA worker from Ajnali village in Fatehgarh Sahib district,” the SP added.Police said the accused had allegedly bypassed the legal adoption process and were operating an illegal network involving newborns.Investigators suspect the network had been active for some time and are examining whether more newborns were transferred through similar arrangements.“The role of each accused is being verified and further arrests cannot be ruled out,” the SP said.“A case under Section 143 (human trafficking) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 81 of the Juvenile Justice Act pertaining to sale and procurement of children has been registered against the accused. Further investigation is underway,” the SP added.