Trafficking: Human mules are paid through scrap material bills; detention is only the tip of the iceberg.
The city crime branch has recently made significant progress in cracking down on a long-running human trafficking operation that has been smuggling minor girls from West Bengal and Bangladesh into India for prostitution.
Two key players, Sagar Mandal from West Bengal, and Mohammed Karim from Charumandi, Bangladesh, were arrested in connection with the crime.
A Decade-Long Operation
The investigation has revealed that this human trafficking racket has been in operation since 2011, shifting locations and disguising its activities to avoid detection.
The arrested individuals, while significant, are believed to be minor players in a much larger network that spans across several states and international borders.
Exploiting the Indo-Bangladesh Border
According to crime branch sources, approximately 900 minor girls and women have been smuggled into India through the porous Indo-Bangladesh border, which stretches over 4,096 kilometers.
The traffickers lured these victims with false promises of employment in scrap factories. Once in India, the girls were forced into prostitution, with minors fetching a higher price than adult women.
The Scrap Factory Front
A key discovery in the investigation is the use of a scrap factory as a front for the trafficking operation. The criminals involved in the racket used the factory’s billing system to pay pimps and human smugglers in Bangladesh.
These payments were disguised as legitimate transactions for the workforce supposedly supplied to the scrap factory. This strategy helped the traffickers launder large sums of money while keeping their illegal activities hidden.
Financial Investigation and Future Arrests
The crime branch has indicated that they are on the verge of dismantling the entire trafficking network. A senior official stated, “We are very close to busting the whole racket and will soon arrest more offenders.”
Additionally, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is expected to step in to investigate the financial aspects of the operation, including the hawala transactions linked to the scrap factory’s billing, which are believed to be worth crores.
A Growing Concern
The recent arrests are just the beginning of what appears to be a much larger human trafficking operation. The crime branch officials have emphasized that this is merely the “tip of the iceberg” and that they have identified several more individuals involved in smuggling minors under the guise of offering them employment.
The crackdown on this operation continues as authorities work to rescue more victims and bring the perpetrators to justice.
