New Delhi: Four people of Indian origin have been arrested in Texas and charged with the trafficking of persons — a second-degree felony in the state — after police found 15 women living in the same home and sleeping on the floor.
Santhosh Katkoori, Dwaraka Gunda, Anil Male and Chandan Dasireddy have all been arrested after the Princeton Police Department in north Texas raided a home belonging to Katkoori earlier in March this year. The police have now released information about the case after a months-long investigation.
In March, a pest control company called to Katkoori’s house found three to five young women in each room and a number of suitcases, leading them to contact the Princeton Police Department, according to Fox 4 News.
On 13 March, the police obtained a search warrant and found 15 adult women who alleged they were forced to work for multiple programming shell companies owned by Katkoori and his wife, Gunda.
The Princeton Police said that when searching the house, they found several laptops, cell phones, printers and fraudulent documents. The investigation revealed that the alleged forced labour network was operating across at least three cities in Texas — Melissa, Princeton and McKinney.
Additional laptops and documents were seized from different locations. It was found that the perpetrators also allegedly forced adult men to work, although no mention was made by the Princeton Police department of the type of programming work they were asked to perform.
The operation allegedly involved over 100 people, with more than half being victims of human trafficking and forced labour, as reported by Fox 4 News
(Edited by Tikli Basu)