Soumik Dey
Surat, April 3: While both Navsari police and the Social Defence Department agree that Ayappa Bal Asha Trust gave away newborns to various agencies, including adoption centres, in an ‘unauthorised manner’, they do not see eye to eye when it comes to the focus of investigation.
The Social Defence Department says police is not investigating the centre even though the department had registered a complaint and specifically asked for such a probe.
Police officials say their priority right now is to trace the 63 children whose names figure in the register seized from the centre. The SDD is now independently probing the possibility of an adoption racket being run from the centre. “We are investigating on our own and will forward any details we come across to the police,’’ says Deputy Director of Social Defence, Aruna Dave. So far, the SDD has traced 26 newborns, five boys and 21 girls, of the 63 mentioned in the seized register.
According to the SDD, the newborns were sent out for adoption to various organisations in an ‘unauthorised manner’....
