Jan 21 2016 : Mirror (Mumbai)
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They would allegedly put the children up for adoption for their better upbringing in return for `donations’ for their two charitable trusts
The Thane crime branch, in a joint operation with the Anti-Human Trafficking wing and the district child welfare unit, nabbed a couple for running a child traf ficking racket targeting children born out of wedlock or born to poor parents.
Three girls aged five, six and seven, were rescued from the residence of the accused, who were brought in at different occasions in the past few months by their parents. The couple would allegedly target women who were either poor or were pregnant out of an illicit affair or out of wedlock. Once the baby was born, the couple would take custody of the baby and the mother would leave.
The prime accused in the racket, identified as Sabulan Mali, 50, claimed that he was a Christian priest, which was confirmed by the local Christians in Ambivali.
Mali would conduct prayer meetings in private houses and community halls, preaching Christianity, and people would refer to him as `father’ in the locality.
Acting on a tip off, officials from the Thane crime branch Unit 1 raided a flat, where Mali lived, located in the Ashtagandha complex at Gole village in Ambivali on Monday and found the three girls there.
Mali failed to provide any satisfactory answer about the girls.