Taken from stations: How three women ran a kidnapping racket

Abducted, abandoned and sold

- Karn Pratap Singh

They came from different worlds—a nurse from Faridabad, a migrant from West Bengal, and an accountant working for lawyers in Delhi.

But together, the three women made New Delhi Railway Station into their hunting ground, where they picked up toddlers from crowded platforms and sold them off to desperate, childless couples—some wanting sons, others simply seeking hope.

Between July 2023 and January 2025, Delhi Police's railway unit cracked open the racket, tracing three kidnappings to the same trio, according to three police officers who worked the case.

Two children—a two-and-a-half-year-old boy and a four-month-old girl—were already sold to families in Ghaziabad and Delhi’s Paharganj.

A third child, a three-year-old boy, was abandoned after failing to attract a buyer.

The masterminds, police said, were 35-year-old Aarti (born Razina Koti), 45-year-old nurse Kanta Bhujel, and 32-year-old accountant Nirmala Nemmi. Aarti’s 28-year-old husband Suraj Singh also assisted in the crimes.

A total of six people were arrested, while others, including intermediaries and adopting couples, were bound by law to appear before the court.