Navi Mumbai: Two held, five booked for trafficking Bangladeshi woman for flesh trade

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The Navi Mumbai Police have arrested two people and booked five others for allegedly raping and trafficking a 24-year-old woman from Bangladesh and selling her for Rs 2 lakh for flesh trade, an officer said on Thursday, news agency PTI reported.

The police have also slapped the charge of rape against the accused, he said.

The woman hails from Khulna district in Bangladesh, assistant inspector Nilesh Phule of Nerul police station in Navi Mumbai, said.

"Some agents tricked the victim into coming to India on the promise of a job. After she arrived in India, a man allegedly raped her. Some other accused later took her to a lodge on Grant Road in Mumbai and handed her over to those operating a sex racket. They forced her into flesh trade. The agents later took the woman and sold her to two other accused for Rs 2 lakh. She was again forced to become a part of flesh trade," he added.

The two accused: Amir Azam, 27, and 34-year-old Shaifali Jahangir Mulla, were arrested under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on the charges of rape, human trafficking, voluntarily causing hurt, and common intention as well as under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, the Passport (Entry into India) Act and the Foreigners Act, the officer said. The duo are residents of Nerul, news agency PTI reported.

Last month, the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of Mumbai Police arrested another senior officer of the Indian Navy along with his girlfriend and two civilians from Jammu and Kashmir. According to the crime branch, the two officers were involved in the human trafficking racket for the past one-and-a-half years, charging Rs 10-12 lakh from each job applicant. The candidates applied through them for jobs in South Korea because the wages are higher there than in other countries, as well as owing to the involvement of Indian Navy officers, which made people trust them.

Earlier, CIU busted a human trafficking racket in which candidates would go to South Korea, destroy their passports to seek asylum, and secure jobs with higher wages than in any other country. Based on the interrogation of Navy Lieutenant Commander Vipin Dagar, they arrested Sub-Lieutenant Commander Brahma Jyoti Sharma, 29, and his girlfriend, Simran Jeti, a Pune resident, who teaches foreign languages. Two additional arrests were made in Jammu and Kashmir involving civilians identified as Ravi Kumar and Deepak Dogra. According to the crime branch, Sharma is the mastermind in the case.

(With PTI inputs)