The Crime Branch of Mumbai Police on Sunday claimed to have detected a human trafficking racket while investigating a potential terror threat. Police received a tip-off that seven persons were being sent to Pakistan via Dubai to undergo training at terror camps, but when they were detained it was revealed during the interrogation that they were being smuggled into the USA, police said. They added that so far, no terror links have emerged. “Police received information through mail on February 20 that seven persons, including a Pakistan-based woman, were likely to go to Pakistan via Dubai from Mumbai,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Preventive) Datta Nalawade. Nalawade added that the sender of the mail, who claimed to be Rameesh Makhan, stated that this group will arrive in Pakistan to undergo training at terror camps and then return to India. “However, the interrogation revealed that the group was not going to Pakistan but to the US via Canada,” Nalawade said. He said, “We also found that the person who tipped us off was not named Rameesh Makhan, but Rizwan Sayyed. He is a Pakistan-origin man living in the US. We learnt that the family members of these seven were in the US and had paid between $25,000 and $30,000 to Sayyed for the trafficking operation.” Sources said while, so far, there was no clarity on why Sayyed tipped off the police, they suspect it was to ensure that the seven persons were detained here so that he could escape with the relatives’ money. According to police, the seven are aged between 28 and 35. Police have made no arrests.
