Arrest of trafficking kingpins sheds light on the racket

Kolkata: The arrest of two traffickers from central Delhi in a joint raid by Delhi police crime branch and CID has revealed how minor girls are being trafficked and held captive at hotels in Delhi, Haridwar, Kullu and Manali and forced into prostitution. The Darjeeling police had also arrested three Gurgaon-based businessmen just two days ago in this connection while they were trying to 'marry out' minor girls and lure them to travel with them to Delhi.
Police officials say that the gang usually tie up with some hotels in popular tourist destinations across the country where the children are employed as prostitutes. They are usually kept under observation and on the move to avoid being detected by the local police. The two arrested men have been identified as Afroz Ahmed and Radhey Kumar Gupta.
“The Mograhat girl had stated how she was physically abused both in Delhi and Kullu. During questioning, Afroz has told us about Rinku whose misery is perhaps an indicator of how the trafficking network works. During the 20-day probe, the police managed to arrest a notorious trafficker, Afzal (24), and two female pimps, Ranju from Janakpuri and Kiran from Noida. Their accomplice, Rabilul Islam (27) from Assam, was also been arrested. Rabiul and Afzal said they even have Bangladeshis in their gang,” said an officer.
Police sources said that it was Afzal who had brought Rinku from her home in Cooch Behar to Delhi on the pretext of marrying her and then handed her over to his aide Qasim. While Afzal and Rabilul were tasked with bringing girls from Assam and West Bengal, Qasim who is still absconding operated out of Delhi. They used to hand over the girls to Ranju and Kiran, who in turn, used to sell them off to pimps in Delhi and UP brothels. Afzal has told the police that Rinku was disturbed after learning that she was being sold in a brothel. The police suspect that she may have taken the extreme step out of depression and fear.
The identity cards submitted by Rinku and her partner were forged and the Rinku's ID card even had a different picture on it but the hotel still accepted it. The man gave an ID card in the name of Qasim but his real name is Raja," Kumar said. The hotel authorities will be prosecuted too, police said.
The hotel's CCTV footage and the call details of phones recovered from the room led the police team to a woman pimp, Heema, who revealed that Ranju had offered to sell the girl for Rs 75,000 but she had refused to pay the amount. She identified the girl as Rinku and the man as Qasim. "Afzal and Rinku checked into a hotel in Siliguri and boarded a train on August 21 to Kolkata. They stayed at a Sealdah hotel. They reached Delhi a few days later and went to my house in Janakpuri. That night, we 'auctioned' a woman brought from Nepal during which a commotion ensued forcing us to go underground. Afzal decided to return to West Bengal on August 24," Ranju told the police.
The police said “buying and selling” was an everyday affair in the Ballimaran and Paharganj areas bordering Old Delhi railway station. “We are trying to get to the pimps in Bengal as there is a dire need to cut off the supply line,” said additional CP (Delhi central) Alok Kumar who was part of the investigations.