New DelhiPolice said that questioning of those arrested, which includes traffickers, agents, suppliers, mediators, transporters and buyers, among others, revealed that the syndicate mostly targeted tribal families living in remote areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat. (Representative photo)The Delhi Police has arrested 13 members of a suspected interstate child trafficking syndicate, including an owner of a Delhi-based hospital, and rescued five infants from families that allegedly purchased them over the past fortnight, officers aware of the matter said on Thursday.Police said that questioning of those arrested, which includes traffickers, agents, suppliers, mediators, transporters and buyers, among others, revealed that the syndicate mostly targeted tribal families living in remote areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat, and sold the babies to childless couples in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.They said that four of the five babies were rescued from three childless couples in Haryana’s Panipat and Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior.Special commissioner of police (law and order) Devesh Chandra Srivastava said they will investigate the chain further. “This was a prolonged painstakingly done operation by police teams across several states and it yielded results.”Deputy commissioner of police (central) Rohit Rajbir Singh said 47-year-old Dr Viveki, the owner of a multispeciality hospital at Begampur near Rohini in northwest Delhi, allegedly played a crucial role by temporarily housing trafficked infants at her hospital while the syndicate identified prospective buyers or couples seeking fertility treatment visited the hospital.“Our investigation revealed that fabricated medical and supporting documents, including hospital records, delivery-related documents, birth-related records and other supporting papers, were arranged to falsely establish parentage and facilitate the illegal transfer of infants,” said Singh.Among others to be arrested were the syndicate’s 25-year-old mastermind, Saybabhai Ghamar alias Kalia, of Rajasthan’s Udaipur. He had been living in Gujarat’s Sabarkantha for the past few years and ran the racket disguised as a commercial van driver.A 34-year-old freelance lab technician, identified by her single name Pratibha, was the gang’s key coordinator among suppliers, transporters and buyers. She was associated with the Delhi hospital for the past two years, police said.Senior police officers said the syndicate had been active for the past two to three years and trafficked around 30 children. They reportedly paid economically backward families ₹1.5-2 lakh per child and sold each child for ₹6-9 lakh.Police said that in the first week of June, the central police district’s special staff-in-charge inspector Sandeep Yadav received inputs about a group trying to sell a newborn it had bought from a family in Pali, Rajasthan. A decoy police team conducted an operation near the RK Ashram Metro station on June 5, and arrested three people, Jyoti alias Kamlesh, 37, Shalu, 43, and Lalit, 37.“We rescued the baby boy, aged 4-5 days, and seized ₹20,000 paid to the accused as token by the decoy customer. A case of trafficking of person and criminal conspiracy, under sections 143 and 61 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 81 of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, was registered at Paharganj police station,” DCP Singh said.Questioning the trio led police to other members of the syndicate. Jyoti had been getting babies from several intermediaries, including Ghamar and Pratibha. Another member, Vipin, 33, a cab driver, transported the trafficked children into Delhi along with Jyoti.“The team arrested Pratibha and Vipin while they were on their way to arrange another infant and recovered ₹2,92,400, which was intended for the purchase of a newborn. Their interrogation led to the arrest of a Gurugram-based domestic help, Omwati,45, who acted as a mediator,” Singh said.Two couples, Reema Pal,35, and her husband Mukesh Bhagel,37, were arrested from Gwalior, and Ritu Arora, 34, and her husband, 34, were arrested from Panipat, besides 38-year-old Sarika from Panipat, for purchasing four babies from the gang.“Bhagel was sold two infants, a boy and a girl belonging to different parents, as twins for ₹9 lakh. A majority of the infants were kept at Viveki’s hospital as newborn babies by preparing fake documents, claiming that the babies were born there. The infants were concealed, medically attended to and prepared for illegal transfer to prospective buyers,” said an investigator, who did not wish to be identified.Police said they will also initiate action against parents who sold and bought the children.