Thaindian News

New Delhi, Feb 9 (IANS) A driver and tailor arrested here earlier this week in the baby Falak case were involved in a prostitution racket for a long time and their network was spread across several cities, police said Thursday.

Driver Rana Kumar Gupta, 26, a resident of Badarpur in south Delhi, and Rahul, 24, a tailor from a village in Mohammadpur area in south Delhi, were sent to judicial custody Thursday.

Additional Commissioner of Police Ajay Choudhary said: “They are involved in a prostitution racket for a long time. They have divulged information about other rackets and their network is spread across several cities.”

The two, along with Gupta’s second wife Arti, pushed a 14-year-old girl, who brought two-year-old baby girl Falak to a hospital here, into prostitution.

A human trafficking and prostitution angle was being suspected in battered baby Falak’s case as more sordid details emerged earlier this week with fresh arrests.

One of those arrested was a woman who allegedly forced the child’s biological mother to re-marry and was responsible for the disappearance of Falak’s siblings.

The biological mother of Falak has been identified as Munni Khatoon, 22. Police traced her and brought her to Delhi Sunday from Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan. According to police, two of her children were untraceable.

Munni told police that she was married off to another man but was not allowed to keep her three children.

Following her disclosure, police Monday arrested Laxmi, who had taken Rs.2.7 lakh from Munni’s second husband for the marriage. Laxmi appears to have had a central role in the suspected sale of Munni’s two other children - a boy and a girl, police said.

Munni has three children — a five-year-old boy, a three-and-a-half year old daughter and Falak — from her first husband. She got married in 2006 when she was barely 16 years old, police said.

Police also arrested Kanta Choudhary, who is believed to have convinced Munni to leave her first husband, Mohammed Shah Hussain, a criminal, to marry again. Munni is originally from Muzzafarpur in Bihar.

With the latest arrests, police have so far nabbed eight people in the case. Jitender Gupta, Sandeep, Puja and Arti are the others arrested.

The story hit headlines after Falak was admitted to AIIMS Trauma Centre Jan 18 by a teenager, who claimed to be her mother. Falak was in a critical condition as her head was smashed and she had human bite marks all over her body. She continues to be in a serious condition.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Chhaya Sharma told reporters that Munni will have to undergo DNA test to prove that she was the biological mother of Falak.