NIA charges couple for trafficking

Multiple identification documents recovered from arrested persons

The National Investigation Agency at Hyderabad filed a supplementary chargesheet against a couple including the woman Bangladesh national who was arrested for trafficking young girls from the neighbouring country and pushing them girls into prostitution.

In 2019, the agency re-registered a case and probed the cross-border human trafficking case booked at Chatrinaka, Hyderabad, where six women from Bangladesh were rescued.

The four accused — Mohd Yousuf Khan, Bithi Begum, Sojib Shaik and Rahul Amin Dhali — were arrested and a chargesheet was filed against them in March 2020.

During the probe, on May 23 this year, Mohd Abdul Salam alias Kounla Justin, 47, and his wife Shivuli Khatun alias Sheela, 30, a Bangladesh national, were arrested from Hayathnagar and three minor girls were rescued.

The NIA said the investigation revealed that the couple along with the other accused trafficked poor young Bangladeshi girls to India through a well-organised network of agents in both India and Bangladesh, by luring them with high-paid job offers.

The premier investigation agency which filed a supplementary chargesheet against Abdul Salam and Shivuli on Thursday before an NIA Court in the city said that the raids at the couple’s house resulted in recovery of many incriminating articles including multiple identification documents of the trafficked girls.

The teams also seized contraceptive pills, mobile phones and a large number of diaries and registers containing names and mobile numbers of various brothel agents to whom the trafficked girls were sent for sexual exploitation on a commission basis, said the NIA.