The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested four more persons in connection with the trafficking of women from Kerala to Gulf countries through Nedumbassery and Thiruvananthapuram airports.
The agency arrested Manesh A.P., 33, Kodungalloor; P.K. Kabeer, 52, of Chavakkad who was living at Angamaly; Sudharman, 57, of Vellayambalam, Thiruvananthapuram, and Anilkumar V., of Vattappara, from the Kochi office of the CBI on Wednesday night. They allegedly conspired with other accused Lissy Sojan, Sethulal, and Suresh K.V. to trick women from poor backgrounds into going to the Gulf and forcing them to work in brothels there.
Detained in AjmanManesh was allegedly an accomplice of Lissy Sojan and others in running the brothels in Ajman and other places. He allegedly received customers, collected money from them, and helped confine the women. He was first detained by the Ajman police in an operation launched to rescue some of the trafficked women from the brothel.
RecruiterAnilkumar was allegedly an agent for Suresh, suspected to be the kingpin of the racket. The CBI said that he recruited women to the brothels and facilitated their transport. Kabeer allegedly assisted Anilkumar in running the brothels.
Sudharman, who was living in a rented flat near the airport at Nedumbassery, allegedly assisted the trafficking operation.
A CBI report said that he had raped a woman who had fallen into the racket at his flat before sending her abroad.
The accused were summoned to the CBI office by the Thiruvananthapuram unit of the agency, who are investigating the case.
They were produced before the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on Thursday. The court granted the CBI custody of the accused till Monday after the agency submitted that it wished to question the accused for vital information regarding the role of other accused.
The case related to the incident in which a woman from Kattappana was trafficked to Ajman after she was promised a job as a maid in Dubai.
The other accused in the case are Bindu, Lissy Sojan, Sethulal, Siraj, Suresh K.V., T.A. Rafeeque, and M. Ramesh.
