Palghar, Aug 11 (PTI) Police have busted a flesh trade racket in Maharashtra’s Palghar district with the arrest of nine persons and rescued five females, including a juvenile, who were allegedly trafficked to different places in the country, an official said on Monday.
Six of those arrested and three victims, including the 14-year-old girl, are Bangladeshi nationals, he said.
The juvenile, after being trafficked into India, was given sedative-laced drinks and injections, branded with a hot spoon and pushed into flesh trade, the official from Naigaon police station said.
Acting on a tip, the police’s anti-human trafficking cell personnel conducted a raid in a flat at Naigaon in Vasai area on July 26 and busted the prostitution racket, he said.
The victims, including the juvenile, were allegedly trafficked to different locations like Navi Mumbai, Pune in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and other places in the country, he said.
Those arrested include main accused Mohammad Khalid Abdul Bapari (33), who was allegedly responsible for sending the victims to various cities for flesh trade, and agents Juber Harun Sheikh (38) and Shamim Gafar Sardar (39), the police said.
Among those arrested are two women, aged 33 and 32, who allegedly facilitated the juvenile’s entry into India from Bangladesh.
They are accused of giving injections of sedatives to the minor girl, branding her with a hot spoon and forcing her into the flesh trade, the official said.
Police teams have been dispatched to various places in the country to apprehend others involved in the racket, he said.
A case was registered on July 27 under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Juvenile Justice Act, Foreigners Act and the Passport Act, the police added. PTI COR GK
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