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Even as a man-hunt was on to nab a key accused, Savithriamma, in Andhra Pradesh's child adoption racket, the Crime Investigation Department of the state police requested immigration authorities in airports across the country to detain Anita Sen, another accused, if she attempted to flee the country.
Anita Sen is the wife of a senior IPS officer.
While the CID had formed three teams to nab Savithriamma, the absconding director of John Abraham Memorial Bethany Home at Tandur, the latter filed a petition for anticipatory bail in the Karnataka High Court last week. The petition will come up for hearing on May 3.
The Gulbarga police and Karnataka's Corps of Detectives (CoD) had booked two cases against her in connection with child trafficking and procurement of children from tribal-dominated villages in Karnataka.
The Tandur police and CID in Andhra Pradesh have also booked cases against her on similar charges.
Police have announced an award of Rs 100,000 for clues on the whereabouts of Savithriamma, alias Savithri Devi alias Savithri Samson. They have frozen her bank accounts, seized records of the children's Home run by her and taker her foster son into custody.
In Anita Sen's case, sixty-one children, including infants, were rescued from 'Precious Moments', the unrecognised adoption home run by Sen for illegal procurement, confinement and sale of infants and children.
A complaint was registered at the Kukatpally police station after the children were rescued.
In a related development, Child Welfare Department officials on Monday rescued three more children - two female infants and a boy - aged between one to three years from an unrecognised adoption home Bal Rakshana Samithi, run by Vijaya Lalitha, at Habshiguda. The adoption home did not have the requisite permission.
With this, the number of infants and children rescued from eight adoption homes and 'hide-outs' over the last 11 days has gone up to 187.
The rescued children from Bal Rakshana Samithi were shifted to Sishu Vihar, the government-run children's home in Hyderabad.
The three-year-old boy had to be admitted to Niloufer Hospital and treated for dehydration.
The CID had also arrested a broker in connection with child trafficking. He has been remanded to judicial custody till May 9.
The accused, A Pandu (26), an auto-driver by profession was an active associate of another accused N Sanjeeva Rao, executive director of the Hyderabad-based Action for Social Development.
A resident of Naguladona Tanda (a tribal hamlet in Rangareddy district), Pandu was working for ASD as a broker. He was instrumental in procuring two infants from Lambada Tanda.
Investigation revealed that he had made money in the transactions and thereby helped Sanjeeva Rao in the illegal sale of female infants under the guise of adoption for pecuniary gain.
Pandu was arrested and produced before the IXth Metropolitan Magistrate on Monday. He was remanded to 10 days' judicial custody.
Sanjeeva Rao was arrested on April 22 and later remanded to CID custody for further interrogation.
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