Police looking at possible organ harvesting by traffickers.By Sreekanth A Nair
The Bengaluru city police have busted a racket that allegedly smuggled children to the US using fake parents and fake certificates, on Monday.
The gang used ‘fake’ parents to get US visas to children and send the children to the US. After staying in the US for a few days, the parents would fly back to India, leaving the children behind.
The police have arrested 16 people in raids conducted across Bengaluru, who have connections with the gang. Initial investigation revealed that at least 32 children have been smuggled to the US by the gang.
Uday Prathap Singh, 44, leader of the gang told police that the main purpose of the racket was to reunite children with their parents, who were illegal immigrants, in the US.
The police have, however, also started investigating whether the gang, which has connections across the country, has any links with child trafficking gang of organ rackets.
The arrest was the result of a year-long investigation after forming a special investigation team and keeping 16 couples under watch. But only one couple has been taken into the custody so far.
Monitoring the 16 couple, the investigation team found that they travelled to the US and returned within a few days leaving their children behind.
“The agents brought minor children to Bengaluru where they were paired with couples who feigned to be their parents. The children were put up in the houses of these couples. The racketeers trained the children and couples on how to conduct themselves as members of the same family,” P Harishekaran, Additional Commissioner, law and order, told The Times of India.
The gang created fake documents like voter ID card, birth certificate etc. and obtained a passport using these documents. After obtaining a passport, they managed to obtain non-immigration B1/B2 visa from the American Consulate in Chennai.
“While we cannot comment on the course of ongoing investigations, the U.S. Consulate General Chennai takes seriously all allegations of fraudulent visa applications and we are working closely with Bengaluru authorities regarding this alleged human smuggling ring,” a US Consulate spokesperson was quoted as saying by The Times of India.