The Ranchi police on Tuesday claimed to have recovered one kid from the clutches of the Missionaries of Charity which has been facing charges of selling newborns to childless couples in Jharkhand. According to police, the recovered kid was born in December 2017 to an orphan lady at a government hospital here. The lady who gave birth the child was staying in the Missionaries of Charity branch in the city.

Police said that the volunteers of the Missionaries of Charity had demanded Rs 50,000 from a childless couple to sell the baby. During the investigation, it was found that no entry was made into the register of the Missionaries of Charity about the newborn.

“We have recovered one baby. Further police investigation is underway in the case. We have arrested few who are involved in this and strict action will be taken against them,” Aman Kumar, SP, Ranch, told India TV.

The Missionaries of Charity was started in 1950 by Saint Mother Teresa. Today, it has presence all over the world and cares for refugees, orphans, abandoned kids, elder people among others.

Interestingly, the Missionaries of Charity had stopped donating kids for adoption after 2015. However, its volunteers in Jharkhand have been alleged to have been illegally involved in selling the newborns.

Sunita Kumar, spokesperson of the Missionary of Charity, said: “We are in a shock. The Missionaries of Charity all over the work is shock. It is still unbelievable for us… all records are maintained, be it date of birth etc. Also, the missionary had later stopped the adoption.”

During the investigation, it was found that between 2015 and 2018, 450 women at the Ranchi centre of the Missionaries of Chrity were pregnant while the records showed only 170 kids. Details of remaining 280 kids are missing.

Police said that the volunteers were maintaining two registers. In the first register, only such entries were made that were shown to the registration committee during cross-verification whereas the second register was used to maintain the record of all newborn kids. Police said that the second record is missing.