3 agents nabbed for trafficking girls to Gulf

Three agents were arrested from Mumbai by the Antiextortion cell of the Mumbai crime branch on Sunday night for their alleged involvement in the sex trafficking of girls. The girls would be sent to Gulf countries by the agents on the pretext of working as a chef at hotels.

The accused have been identified as Mohammed Kamal Anwar Shaikh (56), Tinku Dinesh Raj (36) and Fareed Ul Haq Shah alias Tipu (55).

The trio used to work as agents. They have been arrested for putting person in fear of death or of grievous hurt to commit extortion (Section 387), cheating (Section 420), trafficking of minor girls (Section 370 (1)) and common intention (Section 34) of the Indian Penal Code and punishment for living on the earnings of prostitution (Section 4), Section 5 and Section 6 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.

The complainant, a resident of Rajasthan, was on July 13 sent to Bahrain on the pretext of working as a chef in a hotel. The girl had contacted her mother in Rajasthan and informed her that she was trapped in a prostitution racket.

Dilip Sawant, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime), said, “Three accused have been arrested. We are on the lookout for another accused, the owner of a restaurant in Bahrain. The accused would manage fake job offers at Bahrain and Dubai to lure the victims. The accused had demanded Rs 2 lakh from the victim to rescue her. We are investigating if there are more girls trapped in the sex racket.”

The accused have been remanded in police custody until November 2.