Human trafficking: police to crack whip on agencies

Director-General of Police directs CID, police personnel to get cracking

August 21, 2019 07:56 am | Updated 07:59 am IST - VIJAYAWADA

Thousands of unlicensed agencies arrange agents locally and abroad to attract unemployed men and women promising them jobs with high pay. | File

Thousands of unlicensed agencies arrange agents locally and abroad to attract unemployed men and women promising them jobs with high pay. | File

Nirudyogulanu Gulf Mariyu Itara Desalaku Pampabadunu’ (Unemployed will be sent to Gulf and other countries).

Such boards are a common sight at many centres in East and West Godavari, Krishna and other districts in the State.

Some thousands of unlicensed agencies are working in Andhra Pradesh. They arrange agents locally and abroad to attract unemployed men and women promising them jobs with high pay.

The agents, also known as brokers, will move in villages and interact with the locals at hair cutting saloons, pan shops, tea stalls and hotels, and present them a bright picture about the life in the Gulf and attract the aspirants.

Thousands of women have been sent to the Gulf on the pretext of providing jobs and pushed into flesh trade by the agents from Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Kurnool, Krishna, Guntur, East and West Godavari districts in the State.

Director-General of Police (DGP) Gautam Sawang, who took human trafficking racket seriously, has directed the Crime Investigation Department (CID) and the Superintendents of Police of concerned districts to conduct raids on agencies sending women abroad illegally.

Directive to SPs

“Instructions have been given to the SPs to identify the places from where big number of women are in Gulf countries, interact with the locals and enlighten the women on deceitful promises of the Gulf agents,” Mr. Sawang told The Hindu.

The CID and the local police would identify the families, enquire about the trapped women and help them in deporting them, the DGP said.

Police were shocked over the ‘organised human trafficking’ and network of the agencies and the brokers in AP. Many agents, who settled in Dubai, Malaysia and other countries, appointed agents in AP and have been doing the illegal trade for the last few years.

“A woman, who stayed for a few years in Kuwait assured me of a job there. I paid ₹1 lakh towards passport, visa, flight ticket and other expenses. After going there, I was detained in a room and forced to do prostitution. With great difficulty, I returned to India,” said a victim, Veeramma (name changed), of West Godavari district. “The broker took me to Shamshabad airport and disappeared. One agent received me at Qatar and provided me work in a house, where I was sexually harassed. They did not allow me to go out, I don’t have access to local language, treat me as a prostitute and torture me. After one year, I returned to India with the help of a maid,” said another woman of Krishna district. West Godavari SP Navdeep Singh Grewal said the agents were sending women on tourist visas and engaging them in work, as domestic helps, which was illegal. In majority of the cases, the victims got trapped and were facing trouble, he said.

“Sending women to Gulf countries has become a big trade in some villages. This is a big human trafficking racket. We are in the process of identifying the agencies, agents, victims and their families,” he said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.