Hyderabad: Days after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took up the investigation of the case of sex-trafficked women from Bangladesh, a series of raids were conducted in the city, where at least eight women were rescued and 20 persons apprehended.
The two-day operation was carried out jointly by intelligence agencies and police personnel from Hyderabad and Rachakonda police commissionerates in the limits of Amberpet, Moghalpura, and Balapur.
The operation was carried out on a tip from the intelligence agencies that women from Bangladesh were brought to the country illegally, crossing the border at West Bengal, and were made to work in brothels.
On Saturday, the raids were carried out at Moghalpura and Amberpet areas, where about seven women were rescued and 18 persons apprehended, and, on Sunday, the raids were conducted at Balapur.
The police have found that the women were brought to India illegally. The accused, who are the brokers, have taken houses on rent and confirmed that women run a flesh trade there.
“Three separate cases have been registered in connection with the rescue operations. Most of the rescued persons and the accused are from Bangladesh. Prima facie, it is observed that one person located at the borders (India–Bangladesh) is found to be assisting the traffickers. We will nab him soon,” said a senior police official from Hyderabad.
Recently, the NIA had taken up a case of sex trafficking under the amended NIA Act for the investigation. Three persons, including a couple from West Bengal, were arrested and five women from Bangladesh rescued from a house located in Chatrikana.
