Overview
- Police say they dismantled an inter-state child-trafficking ring and arrested alleged leader Bodashu Nagraju, known as Murugan, along with two aides in Telangana after using artificial intelligence to track them.
- The case opened with the abduction of a four-year-old in Gujarat, which investigators said on April 6 led to rescue of the child and interrogations that exposed a wider network.
- Investigators report the group shifted from brokering IVF, egg donors, and surrogacy to obtaining newborns from vulnerable families or kidnappings and selling them for about Rs 4–5 lakh per child.
- Authorities have established at least five trafficked infants, while NDTV reports police have confirmed eight across Gujarat, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Delhi.
- Officers recovered Rs 1.50 lakh believed to be sale proceeds and filed cases in Vadgam and Danta as they work with child welfare bodies to trace the infants and pursue additional agents in Mumbai and Hyderabad.