Accused in adoption racket 'located'

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, MAY 15. One of the accused persons in the child adoption racket on whom the Government announced a reward of Rs. 5 lakhs, Sarita Bandala of Precious Moments, was today `located' by CID officials. Sarita, sources said, got herself admitted in the Yashoda Superspeciality Hospital in Somajiguda and later called up the police.

But Anita Sen continued to evade arrest even as CID teams were making `strenuous' efforts to locate her. Meanwhile, an incongruous situation arose with the CID serving a `fourth and final' notice on Additional DGP Swaranjit Sen and his two sons to appear before the probe team on Wednesday. If this notice was not honoured by them, legal action would be initiated against them, police sources said.

Swaranjit Sen, who was the Additional DGP of Welfare and Sports, was divested of his post and `kept without any posting' as he had failed to honour the CID notices for appearance. Along with Anita Sen, the manager of Bethany Home in Tandur Savitri is also not traceable so far. Both of them carry a reward of Rs. 5 lakhs on each of them.

Police sources said Sarita who was suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes got herself admitted to the Yashoda Superspeciality Hospital on Monday. Her husband, it was learnt, had called up the police and informed about her presence in the hospital on Tuesday. The CID Telangana SP, Mr. N. Hanumantha Rao, immediately rushed to the hospital and was closetted with her for over two hours. Plainclothes CID officers were guarding the ICCU ward on the fourth floor of the hospital.

Mr. Hanumantha Rao was reluctant to divulge more details about what Sarita had told him. He merely stated that Sarita had been `located'. However, sources confirmed that she was taken into custody and would be produced before a magistrate on Wednesday morning. Since Sarita is already hospitalised, the possibilities of her being shifted to the hospital with police escort after her remand were more.

Police raided the Precious Moments run by Anita Sen and Sarita in Miyapur on April 26 and shifted 61 children from the home to Sisu Vihar. Sources say that the CID has procured evidences to prove that some children were bought by Precious Moments.

Our Staff Reporter writes:

In a related development, the DNA tests conducted by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) on Tuesday provided scientific support to Shantamma's claim on Haribabu, the 10-year- old boy rescued from Precious Moments, being her son who had gone missing some five months ago.

According to the Forensic Science Laboratory director, Dr. K.P.C.Gandhi, the CCMB which was provided the DNA samples had conducted the tests and established that Shantamma was the biological mother of Haribabu.

``The FSL had collected the blood samples from both and after isolating and amplifying the DNA had sent it to CCMB for sequencing on Monday. This afternoon we received the CCMB report saying that Haribabu belonged to Shantamma and the same report was being forwarded to the police and the Department of Women and Child Welfare,'' Dr. Gandhi said.

Officials of the Women and Child Welfare said that since the DNA report was available, Haribabu would be restored to his family once necessary formalities were completed.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Next     : CARA team visits Sishu Vihar