Post date: May 07, 2013 2:30:26 PM
Police in India's northern Punjab state arrest buyer of the new born baby sold through a social networking site 'Facebook' by his grandfather, after telling his daughter her child was stillborn.
LUDHIANA, PUNJAB, INDIA (MAY 06, 2013) (ANI) - Police in Ludhiana city of India's northern Punjab state on Monday (May 06) arrested buyer of the new born baby sold through a social networking site 'Facebook' by his grandfather, after telling his daughter her child was stillborn.
The buyer has been identified as Amit, who is a Delhi based businessman.Giving details about the incident, Superintendent of Police (SP) Ludhiana, Satish Malhotra said they had been tracking the buyer through their network since the incident was reported.
"Recently, this was in news that grandfather had sold his grandson on the Facebook to Delhi based businessman. We have arrested the child's grandfather Firoz Khan, his friend Imran Khan and the hospital assistant Gurpreet Singh and a nurse Sunita. Amit, who is a Delhi based business was hiding since so many days, he came to this place in order to bail out a person and we had already trapped him due to our network, so he was arrested and he is in our remand," said Malhotra.
A new-born baby boy in India was reportedly sold via social media website Facebook for $15,000, after his grandfather told his daughter she had given birth to a stillborn child, Indian authorities say.
The incident allegedly took place on April 10 in the rural area of Basti Jodhewal on the outskirts ofLudhiana city in northern India's Punjab state.
The grandfather, Firoz Khan, is believed to have sold the baby to a hospital nurse and a fellow employee for $850, who in turn sold the infant to a middleman for $6,450.
The middleman who then put the baby's picture on Facebook apparently struck a deal with a New Delhi-based businessman for a sum of $15,000.
Twenty-year-old Noori Khan complained her baby had gone missing after suspecting her father's sudden new wealth, according to media reports.
A police investigation found that the infant had been trafficked and sold to a couple in New Delhiand police have arrested the grandfather, the two persons of the hospital staff and a friend of the grandfather suspected to be involved in the trafficking.
Malhotra also informed about the money that had been paid to the grandfather for the baby.
"As far as we have interrogated the matter that he (Amit) has paid rupees 70000 ($1,292.58) to the grandfather of the child while they has asked rupees 200000 (3,693.07)," said Malhotra.
Noori Khan, who is still recuperating from the birth, said while she had been led to believe by her father that her baby was stillborn, a doubt lingered in her mind.
The grandfather reportedly told authorities he wanted to get his daughter married for a second time after she was abandoned by her husband, but it would have been difficult for her if she had a baby.
($1 = 54.16 INR)