Couple Held For Selling One-Month-Old Infant; Baby Rescued

The boy’s mother, Ketavath Manjula (25), told officials that her husband Mahesh had sold the infant to a childless couple. The couple, residents of Lingasanpalli thanda in Haveli Ghanpur mandal, had given birth at the Medak mother and child care centre a month ago.
Medak DSP Prasanna Kumar confirmed: “Five people, including the child’s parents, intermediaries, and the couple who purchased the baby, were taken into custody.”
Investigations revealed that on March 4, Manjula and Mahesh met intermediaries Kummari Nagaraju and his wife Swapna in Medak. They initially discussed selling the baby for ₹5 lakh but finalised the deal at ₹1.5 lakh. A written agreement was executed on stamp paper at Shalipet village before handing over the child.
The intermediaries later gave the infant to their relatives, Narasolla Raju and his wife Rajitha of Kancherla village in Bhiknoor mandal, Kamareddy district. Acting on this information, SI Satyanarayana and his team recovered the baby from the couple and handed him back to its mother at the Sakhi Centre.
ICDS sector in-charge Parla Vijayalakshmi, who first raised the alarm after noticing Manjula’s absence at the Anganwadi centre, played a key role in tracing the couple. DSP Kumar said a case has been registered and the accused will be sent to judicial remand after investigation.