Sangli, Maharashtra:- In a shocking revelation, the Sangli Police have dismantled a child-kidnapping racket involved in abducting children from impoverished families and selling them to wealthy individuals under the guise of legal adoption.
The Local Crime Branch (LCB) of the Sangli District Police made one arrest in the case — identified as Inayat Abdul Sattar Golandaj (43), a resident of Miraj — while two other suspects, Imtiaz Pathan and his wife Wasima, remain absconding.
The case came to light after a one-year-old child of a balloon-seller couple went missing on Narak Chaturdashi, the first day of Diwali, from the Vishrambag Chowk area in Sangli city. The distressed parents immediately lodged a complaint at the Vishrambag Police Station, leading to an intensive investigation.
According to officials, the accused had planned to sell the kidnapped child to a businessman in Chiplun for ₹1.5 lakh, claiming it was a legal adoption through a fictitious orphanage run by Wasima. The racket was exposed before the transaction could be completed, and the child was rescued from Savarde, near Chiplun, after a 72-hour coordinated operation involving over 50 police personnel.
The swift and successful operation was carried out under the supervision of Sangli SP Sandeep Ghuge, Addl SP Barawkar, and DySP Pravin Gilda. The LCB team was led by PI Satish Shinde, along with APIs Pankaj Pawar and Chetan Mane.
Police have not ruled out the possibility of more children being trafficked by the same network, and further investigations are underway.
