Man accused of human trafficking in Jharkhand held from Bhagalpur

BHAGALPUR:: Police on Wednesday arrested a man for allegedly running a human trafficking racket in Jharkhand through NGOs which he operated along with his wife.

The man, Rohit Kumar Muni, was arrested by from Trimuhan village of Kahalgaon subdivision in Bhagalpur district.

Dilnawaz Ahmad, Kahalgaon subdivisional police officer who led the team that nabbed Muni, said he used to stay in West Punjabi Bagh area of New Delhi. He had come to Trimuhan village with his two daughters few days back to evade arrest, Ahmad said. He said Muni carried a reward of Rs 10,000 on his head and had been absconding for nearly five years. On Thursday, he was taken to Simdega by Jharkhand police on transit remand

Ahmad said an FIR had been lodged against Muni at Simdega police station by the anti-human trafficking unit (AIHU) on the basis of complaint by Amus Kandrulana in 2013.

Kandrulan, a resident of Kolamdega village in Jaldega police station area of Simdega district, had accused Muni of misleading his granddaughter and two other minor girls, taking them to Delhi and selling them there. A warrant of arrest had been issued against Muni from Simdega court on June 27.

Quoting information provided by Simdega police, Ahmad said Prabha Minz, wife of Muni, was arrested on September 22 from their West Punjabi Bagh residence in Delhi.

He said the couple ran two NGOs - Sampoorn Gharelu Kaamgaar Sarvekshan Evam Utthan Samiti and Sampoorn Adivasi Sanskritik Utthan Manch - and they had been accused of having “sold” a number of tribal girls from Jharkhand after taking them to metro cities with the promise of getting them “job placements”.

The SDPO also said the couple was known to have close ties with a number of political leaders and bureaucrats in Jharkhand and Delhi and they were fond of flaunting their photographs with distinguished people on the social media.