Delhi Police bust human trafficking ring, rescue 3 children from J-K

“The 15-year-old left her house in anger after he parents scolded her. She asked her friend to accompany her,” a police officer said.

The probe made no progress for the next seven months. Then in June, a man from Jammu contacted the local police, saying that a girl had contacted him on Instagram.

“The man claimed that he had been talking with a girl from Delhi for months on Instagram. He said she had then suddenly contacted him using another number registered in Jammu,” a police officer said. The police found out that it was the 15-year-old girl who had left her Bhalswa Dairy home in December.

The police then tracked the number and found that it belonged to a woman working as a maid in Jammu. “The two girls who disappeared from Delhi were working as domestic help with the maid at a house in Jammu. They were trafficked from Delhi,” a police officer said.

On June 15, the police conducted a raid at the house in Jammu and brought back both the girls.

Hareshwar Swami, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer), said, “Their statements before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) revealed that they were lured by traffickers from the Old Delhi railway station, transported via Jammu, and forced into unpaid domestic work in Srinagar.”

On August 14, based on technical surveillance, the police arrested Suraj, 31, a resident of Begampur, who was allegedly transporting children to Jammu at the behest of Delhi-based agents. On Suraj’s instance, the police arrested another man, Salim.

“Upon interrogation, Salim disclosed that he runs an agency in the name of V A Manpower Private Limited, Bemina, Srinagar, through which he trafficked nearly 500 people in the last two years, charging huge commissions per victim,” DCP Swami said.

On August 19, the police took Salim to Srinagar and conducted a raid, leading to the arrests of two other agents, Md Talib and Satnam Singh. On their instance, the police rescued another 16-year-old victim.

“Talib had a fake UP Police identity card, which he used to skirt past state borders and checks,” a police officer said.

“The racket involved a wide network of touts and placement agents targeting vulnerable minors and labourers at railway stations and transporting them for exploitation as domestic workers and bonded labourers. The syndicate earned large profits, charging Rs 20,000–25,000 per male and Rs 40,000–60,000 per female victim trafficked,” DCP Swami said.

The police said they are looking for Shahbaz Khan, Naresh, Rohit Pandey, and Sohail Ahmad, three other accused who are running the Sunaaz placement agency in Srinagar, an organisation similar to V A Manpower.