For D. Joseph, an auto rickshaw driver in Tamil Nadu, it was just another ride from the Tiruchi Government Hospital to the bus stand on June 2, 2009. The occupants were a middle-aged woman and an infant. However, minutes after moving away from the hospital, the baby started crying uncontrollably. The way the woman was handling the little girl and her response seemed unusual.
On a typical day, Mr. Joseph used to shuttle between the hospital and bus stand at least a dozen times transporting patients, attenders, staff, etc. But in this trip, he found the baby to be out of place. Sensing foul play, he drove back to the hospital and alerted the police deployed at the out-post. By then, Susila, a young mother had reached there complaining a woman had taken away her baby.
Timely alert
A police team rushed to the bus stand and nabbed the woman, later identified as Dhanam alias Dhanamani of Coimbatore district. The baby girl was rescued and handed over to her mother. Had the auto driver not alerted the police in time, the detection would have taken a much longer time as there was not much scope for CCTV footage and other technical evidence at that period.
Dhanam had befriended Susila of Kollidam at the hospital and offered to arrange financial assistance. Promising to facilitate sanction of funds under a scheme for girl children, she took the baby on the pretext of taking photographs in a nearby photo studio. While Susila waited for them to come back, the accused had reached the bus stand.
More in store
For the police, it was a relief that the case was solved within a few hours. Little did they know that there was a shocker in store. Interrogation of Dhanam revealed a larger network of child lifters across Tamil Nadu and a couple of dubious NGOs operating illegal child adoption centres.
Police learnt that Dhanam, a widow, had remarried Abiraman of Annur in Coimbatore district. She started working as an agent arranging women workers for the spinning mills in the western districts of the State. Later, she got introduced to a gang of child traffickers and found their modus operandi the right means for making quick money. She told the police the gang would sell babies abducted from hospitals, bus stands, railway stations and other public places to ‘Anbu Illam’, an unregistered home for children, at Valliyur in Tirunelveli district.
Acting swiftly on her revelations, the Tiruchi police coordinated with their counterparts in Tirunelveli district and conducted a search at the home. They arrested Paramasivam alias Raja and Muthusamy, two of the accomplices of Dhanam, and rescued six babies from the premises. The suspects had kept the babies ready for adoption by preparing fake birth certificates and other documents, the Investigation Officer (I.O.) wrote in a journal published by the State police.
CB-CID takes over
Rajan, who ran the illegal adoption centre, was arrested and more suspects were taken into custody based on his statement. This led to the rescuing of a few more babies from the clutches of traffickers. Sensing the gravity of the crime, the then Director-General of Police transferred the case to the Crime Branch CID (CB-CID) for further probe.
Investigators quickly gathered details of all child missing cases reported across Tamil Nadu. About 13 cases reported during 2008-09 from Tiruchi, Srirangam, Lalgudi, Rajapalayam, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Udumalpet, Bhavani and other places matched and were initially taken up for investigation.
Dhanam alone had abducted nine babies from hospitals and other public places and sold six of them to Rajan, the owner of ‘Anbu Illam’. Three other children were sold to Muthusamy, a bus driver working with the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC), who paid ₹20,000 for each infant. He was actively involved in arranging babies for illegal adoption centres. Some more suspects who were involved in abduction of babies were identified and detained.
The accused led police to the parents who adopted the babies illegally. About 15 photographs of the children were published in newspapers with the CB-CID making an appeal to parents who had lodged child missing complaints across the State to contact the I.O. in case they found their baby among the rescued children.
At least 12 children were rescued from the suspects and handed over to their biological parents. Besides Dhanam, Rajan and Muthusamy, who played a key role in the inter-district racket of child traffickers, the CB-CID filed chargesheet against eight others and prosecuted them.
Auto driver’s role
The inter-district racket gang that kidnapped and sold babies for illegal adoption would not have come to notice at that point of time but for the alertness of Mr. Joseph, the auto driver, who not only rushed to the police with the information but also assisted in identifying the accused woman. “But for his timely tip-off followed by his proactive and fearless assistance, a one-and-a-half year old girl child would not have been rescued from traffickers and ten more children would not have been handed over to their biological parents,” the Investigation Officer wrote.
Published – September 24, 2025 05:30 am IST
