Lucknow, April 8 A suspected member of a human trafficking gang who used his auto-rickshaw to facilitate the kidnapping of children in the Delhi NCR area was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) from the Hardoi district, officials said on Wednesday.
The accused, Shahrukh alias Imran, had a reward of Rs 50,000 on his arrest, and was wanted in connection with a case registered at the Atrauli police station in Hardoi under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the STF said in a statement.
Initially, the accused worked as an auto-rickshaw driver and came into contact with a woman, Sonia alias Sunita, who hired his vehicle on a daily basis in the national capital. In 2025, she allegedly lured him into a gang involved in kidnapping children, the statement said.
The agency said the gang used hired vehicles to transport the kidnapped children and avoid suspicion. Driven by monetary incentives, the accused joined the network and began assisting in their activities, including transportation and logistical support.
He later came into contact with other members of the gang, identified as Abhay Verma, Umashankar, Pathan Mumtaz alias Haseena, Modawati Sharda, Bikkol Bijli alias Bikobolu Savita Thakur, and Ankul, all of whom were previously arrested and sent to jail by the local police, the statement said.
After learning about the crackdown on the gang, the accused went into hiding and kept moving between Delhi, Ghaziabad, and areas along the Uttar Pradesh border to evade arrest, it added.
Acting on specific information, an STF team apprehended him on Tuesday at around 9:45 pm near the Dikni area on the Sandila-Atrauli road in Hardoi, according to the statement.
The accused has been handed over to the local police, and further legal proceedings in the case are underway, it said.