Gang of baby traffickers feared to have stolen HUNDREDS of babies by smuggling newborns out of hospital in BISCUIT CARTONS in India
Doctors helped the gang to sell babies to parents who had lost their own
COPS have busted a trafficking gang smuggling newborn babies out of hospital using biscuit cartons.
Officers rescued three babies - one born just hours earlier - already locked in a medical store in Basirhat, in eastern India’s state of West Bengal.
They now fear the ring may have been running for three years - meaning they could have trafficked hundreds of babies in that time.
It is thought that unmarried women seeking abortions were paid to have the baby and hand it over.
Medics involved in the shocking operation would then charge £3,539 for a boy and £1,179 for a girl.
Eight suspects have been arrested following raids on a government-run hospital and private nursing home in nearby village of Bhaduria.
Inquiry head Dr Bharat Lal Meena, a senior police officer, said: "We have rescued three newborn babies. There are doctors involved in this."
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After the babies were born, they would be moved from the nursing home to a nearby state-run hospital for post-natal care.
They would then be smuggled away in biscuit cartons, while some healthy babies were sold to parents who had lost their own children.
The nursing home's owner, Nazma Bibi, was one of the suspects arrested.
Investigator Dr Meena said: "We have traced three couples who were victims of this racket and one couple has been reunited with their baby."
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