Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police has busted an interstate human trafficking racket and rescued a woman and six girls from Hyderabad, while arresting two alleged traffickers, officials said Wednesday.
The action followed an investigation into the disappearance of a woman from Adava police station area in Gajapati district, police said.
According to the complaint lodged by a relative, the woman had been missing since June 21.
Police said the victim contacted her family over phone June 24 and alleged that one Iswar Kusulia of Rayagada had lured her and a friend with the promise of jobs.
“He asked me to come to Birikote under Adava police station and then took me to his residence at Gumukudi village under Muniguda police station limits. Later, he sent me to Hyderabad on the pretext of arranging employment,” the rescued woman said.
R Udayagiri SDPO Rakesh Sahoo said the investigation revealed that instead of providing jobs, Kusulia allegedly sold a woman and a girl to Chandra alias Sarita Jain alias Saritha Lunawat for Rs 70,000.
“The victims alleged that they were wrongfully confined, subjected to physical and mental torture, deprived of their mobile phones and forced to engage in immoral activities,” Sahoo said.
During questioning, the victims also disclosed that several other girls had been brought from different places on the false promise of employment and were being similarly exploited, indicating the existence of an organised interstate human trafficking racket, he said.
Acting on specific information, a team of Gajapati police, with the assistance of Hyderabad Police, raided the premises of the accused woman in Hyderabad and rescued seven victims — six minor girls and a woman — who were allegedly being held there.
The rescued victims were brought back safely and reunited with their families, police said.
Sahoo said the two accused — Iswar Kusulia and Chandra alias Sarita Jain alias Saritha Lunawat — were arrested and produced before a court, which remanded them to 14 days’ judicial custody.
