The traffickers had allegedly "bought" the girl from her uncle in Kushinagar and were taking her to Badaun in an SUV when they were caught in a traffic jam.
The girl, sitting on the back seat of the vehicle, saw some policemen and raised an alarm.
Traffic police personnel intercepted the vehicle and called the local police from the BBD police station.
All the passengers in the vehicle were taken to the police station where the girl narrated the entire story.
Traffic sub-inspector Satyendra Bahadur Singh said: "The police team was deployed for the diversion duty. Suddenly, we heard the cries of a girl calling for help. We immediately surrounded the vehicle and asked the girl to come out. She told us that her uncle forced her to sit in the SUV and the other four passengers, including a woman in it, are taking her to Badaun against her wishes".
At the police station, the four persons in the SUV identified themselves as Asha Gautam, Karan Gautam, Om Pal and Panchu Ram Sharma.
Additional deputy commissioner of police, East Zone, Syed Ali Abbas, said, "During interrogation, they confessed to having bought the girl for Rs 80,000 from her uncle and were taking her to Badaun to sell her off to a client for marriage."
"The girl told the police that her father is physically challenged and lives with his second wife in Gorakhpur and had sent her to live in Kushinagar with her uncle," he added.
The documents he attached with the complaint ranged from emails and note verbale issued to different embassies to proofs of payment he made to the accused diplomat, The News reported.
Israr Husain is at the heart of this scandal. He was additional secretary (Europe) at the time the complaint was received against him. It was mostly related to his attempts to influence the European embassies in Islamabad to get visas for Pakistanis.
He allegedly tried to send as many as 11 individuals to Spain. Before that, he was Pakistan's ambassador in Czech Republic and his track record there was not clean either.
Tariq Javid Khan, the complainant, dates back his story to the time Husain was in Czech Republic when he "made an offer to me to facilitate issuance of visit, work and residency visas for Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain, Poland and South Korea. He also introduced me to the ambassadors of these countries in Pakistan".
Reading through the complaint is like touring through the world of human smuggling and the way it works, The News reported.
The complainant wrote that he had a complete record of all payments made to Hussain in the form of bank receipts. Khan attached several of them as evidence, which has been seen by The News.
In addition, Khan mentioned having videos/ voice/ ext messages exchanged between him and Husain. The visas couldn't be issued and Husain refused to return the money and allegedly threatened Khan of dire consequences in case the word went out. However, in the meanwhile, another opportunity arose.
Husain requisitioned a group of Qawwals from Pakistan in Prague.
Khan said he arranged their tickets, accommodations and all other expenses there in Prague. Behind this show was an ulterior motive. A group of 10 Pakistanis also accompanied the cultural troupe. As many as 1.5 million PKR were collected from each of them with the promise that they would get work and residency permits in Prague, according to Khan's complaint.
Husain didn't keep the promise and they were forced to seek asylum, The News reported.
Khan then mentions Husain's past behaviour that he came to know through his colleagues. He alleged that Husain was a persona non-grata in several of the countries in his previous postings. He has mentioned a few ambassadors who, he hopes, would give further credence to the charges he has levelled against Husain.
Please contact, his complaint reads, the ambassador of Italy, the ambassador of Czech Republic and the Ambassador of Spain "who will be happy to confirm Mr. Hussain's disorderly conduct and they will provide evidence regarding his continuous requests for the illegal issuances of visas".
He was convicted along with his brother in March 2018 and later released on bail.
As his bail plea was dismissed by the court of Additional Sessions Judge H.S. Grewal, Daler Mehndi was taken into custody.
Police had registered a case against the singer, his brother Shamsher Singh -- who died in October 2017 -- and two others, after it was alleged that the accused took money from people to the tune of Rs 1 crore on the pretext of taking them abroad.
Complainant, Bakhshish Singh, alleged that the deal never matured and the accused failed to return the money.
The case was registered in 2003 in Patiala. Daler Mehndi was subsequently arrested but released on bail after a few days.
Police had earlier moved two petitions before the court saying that Daler Mehndi was not required in the case as he had nothing to do with the immigration fraud, called 'kabootarbaazi' -- literally flying of pigeons but referring to numerous youth in Punjab trying to use illegal means to settle abroad.
The singer was arrested by the police in October 2003 along with his brother after the complainant said he was duped of a huge sum of money by the two, who had promised to take him abroad as part of their musical group and to leave him in some western country to settle there.
Police officials, after investigations, had stated that the singers and other performers had got into a well-organised racket to illegally take youth out of Punjab to western countries by making them part of musical troupes. The youth were charged up to Rs 2 million in each case.
But after police started the proceedings that Daler Mehndi had nothing to do with the immigration fraud case, the complainant moved court again objecting to the singer being discharged. He said that both the brothers had duped him.
Daler Mehndi's arrest was quite controversial at a police station in Patiala in 2003 as he was asked to strip by a few junior police officers during interrogation. He spent a few days behind lock-up before being released on bail.
His younger brother, singer Mika, who accompanied him during the surrender in 2003, had to beat a hasty retreat near the police station when an "organised" mob surrounded their vehicles.
"Renewed and reinvigorated global action against this crime (of human trafficking) is needed more than ever, as economic hardship, conflict, and health and climate emergencies are increasing and compounding vulnerabilities to trafficking, exploitation and abuse," she told a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the appraisal of the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons on Monday.
Global crises, including the continuing Covid-19 pandemic, have set back progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including important targets on preventing and combatting all forms of trafficking in persons. This is increasing the suffering of victims, Xinhua news agency quoted her as saying.
Trafficking survivors in many countries have encountered greater difficulties in accessing shelter, food, health care, legal aid and other essential services. At the same time, law enforcement authorities face additional challenges in detecting human trafficking, in view of pandemic-related restrictions on travel and movement, she noted.
"Human trafficking, a crime that is often hidden in plain sight, has retreated further into the shadows of our global economy and the dark corners of the Internet. Information and communication technologies, which have also become increasingly important in the pandemic, are being misused by traffickers to facilitate recruitment, control and exploitation of victims," said Mohammed.
Women and girls are disproportionately targeted by traffickers and forced into marriage and domestic servitude and forced labour. More and more children are being targeted by traffickers using social media to recruit new victims and profiting from the demand for child sexual exploitation materials. Refugees and migrants are especially vulnerable to traffickers, she said.
Trafficking in global supply chains continues to be under-detected and unpunished due to a lack of appropriate frameworks and reporting mechanisms to tackle this complex issue, she added.
"To end this suffering and injustice, we need to support all countries to build strong legal institutions and frameworks to respond to this crime. Survivors should be at the center of policies to prevent and counter human trafficking, to bring perpetrators to justice and provide effective access to remedies, including compensation," she said.
There are strong tools for international cooperation in preventing and ending human trafficking. However, practical responses to human trafficking continue to vary widely. There is a need for increased technical assistance and support to strengthen common action. Better responses require improved cooperation among member states, on information-sharing, joint criminal justice operations and more. And more needs to be done to protect vulnerable migrants from falling prey to trafficking, she said.
"We need to strengthen coordination between UN entities and others to detect and respond to this crime in emergency situations and humanitarian crises. We also need to strengthen private sector engagement, so that companies can manage their procurement processes in an ethical and transparent way. ... And finally, we need to develop and promote partnerships with civil society. Survivor-led organisations can support a shift to holistic anti-trafficking responses, as well as victim support and services," said Mohammed.
As per field analysis reports of Shakti Vahini, a New Delhi based NGO working in the field of combating trafficking, four states namely West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand and Assam in the country have a very acute human trafficking scenario in the country.
However, the NCRB data for 2019 and 2020 shows Odisha with a total trafficked victims of 876 and 741, respectively, finished second in the country. And the corresponding numbers for the states like West Bengal, Jharkhand and Assam for the last two years had been - 262, 71; 239, 301 and 316, 177, respectively.
With the UN Office on Drugs and Organised Crime (UNODC) calling human trafficking or child trafficking an organised crime, the time is ripe for the State to have legislation on the lines of control of organised crimes, say experts.
Trafficking An Organised Crime?
As per UNODC, trafficking is an organised crime because it involves elements of several crimes - selling, buying, sexual abuse and exploitation, criminal confinement and abduction. Moreover, the scene of crime extends from the source area through the transit to the destination area. The multiple crime players are networked and organised. Also, by trading humans, they earn profits at multiple stages.
Trafficking Enormity In Odisha
As per NCRB 2020 report, though the Odisha police had recorded 103 human trafficking cases, the number of victims trafficked stood at 741. The numbers in 2019 stood at 876.
In contrast, as per the Odisha police data, the number of victims of human trafficking in the State was 108 in the year 2013. It grew to 512 in 2016 and dropped to 252 in 2018, only to rise to 876 in 2019 and dip a bit to 741 in 2020 (lockdown year).
Significantly, when the Odisha police had earlier attributed a majority of human trafficking in the State to cases booked under the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act and procuration of girls, for the last 3-years, Odisha police had been attributing all the human trafficking cases to other causes.
However, as per Shakti Vahini report, Odisha is a major source state for trafficking of women for commercial sexual exploitation. And the most effected districts are Balasore, Malkangiri, Nayagarh, Kendrapara, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Korapat, Rayagada, Ganjam and Puri.
Besides, the House Committee on Women and Child Welfare (1999-2000) of the Odisha Assembly had then officially acknowledged that immoral trafficking of girls by brokers or agencies, on the pretext of providing employment as well as arranging marriage, has been rampant in the Kalahandi, Balangir, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh and Balasore districts.
As per the Shakti Vahini report, as many as 26 districts in the State report trafficking of women. The districts are given in the table below.
Data Support
The NCRB 2020 report reveals that Odisha is second in the country in the number of girl children victims of trafficking. The number in Odisha was 81 as against 156 in Kerala. The higher share of girl children supports the reason for trafficking identified by NGOs.
However, the numbers are only a part of the story. The NCRB report shows a massive 3,259 girl children who had been missing since 2011 were yet to be rescued. Over and above the huge untraced number in all these years, 2020 recorded the missing of a whopping 2556 girl children.
At the beginning of the year 2021, the whereabouts of 2743 missing girl children from Odisha couldn't be traced. The age group of missing girl children ranges from 3-17 years.
GroundSwell Evidence
The groundswell evidence to the NCRB report has been the missing case of a 2-year old girl Pihu from Jajpur. Though the kid went missing in August last year, the Odisha police are yet to conclude the results of its search operation.
In Aug 2021, the NHRC had intervened in the matter and asked the State police to submit a status report. The parents told the rights body about not being satisfied by State police investigation.
Similarly, the year 2020 saw the kidnap, rape and murder of a girl child Pari in Nayagarh. The police there didn't take cognizance of the missing report. Only a self-immolation bid before the State Assembly spurred the Police to take action.
As per reports, parents of 21 missing children have today petitioned State Governor Ganeshi Lal seeking his intervention in the rising missing children cases in the State.
The Solution
As per UNODC, states, where the missing children cases are acute, should have special laws to control the proliferation of organised crime syndicates or gangs.
Legislation to control organised crimes will make the police mandatory to release a list of total gangsters in operation in the State.
The Maharashtra Example
In 2016, the number of trafficking victims in Maharashtra stood at 1066, the highest in the country.
In 2017, the then Devendra Fadnavis government had decided to include the crime under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and declared it an economic offence too. The main objective was to strike at the economic nexus of human trafficking.
The Result: The count of victims of human trafficking dropped to 986 in 2019 and crashed further to 512 in the pandemic hit the year 2020.
The data also showed that the case conviction rate of human trafficking was 10.6 per cent.
Among states, Maharashtra and Telangana recorded the highest number of such cases at 184 each, followed by Andhra Pradesh at 171, Kerala at 166, Jharkhand at 140 and Rajasthan at 128.
The conviction for cases of human trafficking was recorded at 0 in seven states, while the highest conviction rate of such cases was reported from Tamil Nadu at 66 per cent followed by Delhi at 40 per cent.
The NCRB, in its report, said it started collecting data on human trafficking cases from these Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTU) across the country since
As per data provided by states/UTs, 1,714 cases of human trafficking have been registered by AHTUs during 2020.
According to the report, 2,278 human trafficking cases were registered in 2018 and 2,260 in 2019, respectively
The report further said that 4,709 victims, including 2,222 below 18 years, were trafficked across the country in 2020.
The maximum trafficking cases were registered for sexual exploitation for prostitution at 1,466 followed by forced labour at 1,452 and domestic servitude at 846.
The data on cases recorded of human trafficking have been provided by anti-human trafficking units through their State Crime Records Bureau and this data represents only those cases which have been registered by respective AHTUs.
As per the data provided by States/UTs, so far, 696 AHTUs are functional and 20 states/ UTs have achieved their target of setting up AHTUs in all districts.
Roop Sen, founding member of Sanjog, one of the NGOs which is a part of the Indian Leadership Forum Against Trafficking, a national platform by and for the survivors of human trafficking, said the country went into lockdown from March 23 so for majority part of the year all transportation systems, including all major rails and buses, were stopped and there was very strong monitoring of inter-state trave.
He said a question can be asked about how the number of trafficking cases is so large.
"...even sex workers talked about completely dwindling businesses, factories, brick kilns were non-functional so by that logic there would have been no demand of trafficked labour in that period," he said.
Jyoti Mathur, executive director, Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation, said the number of children children rescued since the beginning of the lockdown by their sister organisation, the Bachpan Bachao Andolan ,is substantially higher than the number of children rescued during the same period in 2019.
"There is, thus, evidence to show that trafficking of children has increased since the beginning of the lockdown. The increase is due to the loss of livelihood of a large number of families on account of the pandemic," she said.
"We sincerely hope that the anti-trafficking bill is passed in the forthcoming session of Parliament. If the bill becomes a legislation, it will give teeth to law enforcement agencies and they will be able to prevent, detect and prosecute cases of trafficking more effectively and efficiently," said Mathur.
According to the NCRB data, the conviction rate in human trafficking cases in 2020 was 10.6 per cent.
Elaborating on the possible reason behind it, Kaushik Gupta, Advocate, Calcutta High Court, said human trafficking is an organised and an inter-state crime, and local police does not have the resources or means to travel to another state and do the investigation.
"Human trafficking is a case of circumstantial evidence and law says that such a case cannot be proved until the entire chain of circumstances is complete. If in the entire chain, one point is missing then the person cannot be convicted," he said.
In a statement, the National Human Rights Commission observed that even after seven decades of Independence, despite various laws and schemes to protect the rights of children; their bonded labour and trafficking, and the existence of child labour "raises a big question mark on the effectiveness of the state machinery to control the menace of child labour".
Accordingly, the NHRC has asked the chief secretaries of all states and the administrators of union territories to file a report about the steps taken to implement the provisions and articles of the United Nation Convention for Right of Child and the Child and Adolescent Labour (Amendment) Act 2016 in their respective jurisdiction in particular, the position of child labours.
The secretary in the department of labour of all the states and union territories are directed to file the report within eight weeks about the legal action taken against the companies and their management, who are employing or employed children in their factory premises or use them for production activity of any kind, against the letter and spirit of the UN convention for right of a child.
The Commission noted that in 1992 India had ratified the UN Convention for Rights of Child; the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution declaring the year 2021 as the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, which necessitates calling for reports from all states and union territories.
The instant case referred to a complaint received in the Commission on December 22, 2019, in which it was alleged that in Udaipur, Dungarpur and Banswara districts of Rajasthan, "rampant trafficking of children aged between 8-15 years is going on", the right panel said in the statement.
They are sold for Rs 500 to Rs 3,000. Even a commission of Rs 50 was charged on every deal. The complainant also supported his allegations on the basis of a media report carried by a prominent newspaper on the issue, it said.
In the wake of these allegations, the Commission had issued a notice to the Director General Police (DGP), Rajasthan calling for a report. In response, the Superintendent of Police (HR), Criminal Investigation Department (CB), Jaipur, Rajasthan informed that the news published was of old incidents, in respect of which no case had been registered, the statement said.
The report stated that all the boys and girls went to earn wages with their families. It said that no case of children leaving or missing or becoming handicapped, from the district, after coming from Gujarat, had come to the fore in relation to the children of Rajasthan.
Most of the children keep going to Gujarat for child labour and to stop the same timely action by police stations and anti-human trafficking units in the border areas had been taken, it added.
The Superintendent of Police, Dungarpur, informed that there was no organised gang active for human trafficking in Dungarpur. The report also stated that the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit was already working in the district to prevent such incidents. Along with this, a special team of the district had also been formed and for the prevention, checking is being done continuously in police station area bordering Gujarat, the NHRC said.
The Commission said it further received a letter from the officer in-charge, Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, district Baswanda, Rajasthan, whereby, it was submitted that the anti-human trafficking police stopped the trafficking of children of Rajasthan to Gujarat and rescued 16 minor children and handed them to child welfare committee, it added.
The Commission observed that "police reports itself admitted that there are cases, where the children were trafficked for various reasons, both inter and intra states, facilitated by the brokers".
The genesis of the present matter may be in the poverty of the parents belonging to the Scheduled Tribe community of the southern part of Rajasthan.
The NHRC said in the statement that it has taken a "serious view of contradictory reports from Rajasthan on child trafficking for labour".
The Commission also noted that in 1988, the Union Labour and Employment Ministry had initiated the National Child Labour Projects (NCLP Scheme) rehabilitate working children in 12 child labour endemic districts of the country.
The scheme aimed to conduct a survey of child labour in hazardous occupations, identify and rehabilitate them by providing healthcare facilities, vocational training and thus eliminate all forms of child labours, it said, adding that since then the project has been expanded to cover 312 districts of 21 states in the country.
"As per 2019 data of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, maximum 52 are from Uttar Pradesh followed by 30 from Telangana, 27 from Rajasthan, 21 from West Bengal, 24 from Odisha, 23 from Bihar, 21 from Madhya Pradesh, 18 from Tamil Nadu, 16 each from Maharashtra and Karnataka. However, the rampant violation of child rights in the form of child trafficking and child labour is still going on in the country," the statement said.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of Boden police raided the house where the labourers were held captive in Makarbarli forest under Boden police limits of the district.
According to sources, all of them were being trafficked to Andhra Pradesh.
Later, arrangements were made to send all the rescued labourers to their villages in Dunguripalli and Baunsuni area.
As per report all the rescued labourers were allegedly being taken to the neighbouring state through an agent, who remains absconding. A police investigation is currently underway to nab all the accused involved in the case.
All four of them, rescued from a hotel in Rourkela, hail from Banpur area in Khurda district, police sources said.
Police have also arrested a middleman, identified as Bidyadhar Panda, involved in trafficking the girls.
As per information, the agent had promised them jobs in the banking sector and taken Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 from each of them. Later, he took all the girls to Rourkela and kept them in a hotel there.
On the basis of a complaint lodged by the family members, police began investigation and rescued all the girls.
"We heard that the agent had lured them and we were able to rescue them with the help of police. We don't have any idea why the person took them to Rourkela. We suspected something fishy and informed police," said a girl's relative.
On the other hand, the arrested agent said, "I along with another guardian took them to Rourkela and stayed in a hotel. The following day, at around 3 pm, we were informed that the girls will be trafficked to other areas. We thought they will get jobs in banks. We were not aware of this."
Meanwhile, police suspect a big trafficking racket behind this fraud job offer. Khurda SP, Diptiranjan Ray said, "Banpur police is investigating the case. The fraudster has been caught. He had taken Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 from three girls and Rs 30,000 from another girl. An investigation is on why the girls were taken to Rourkela."
As per the data, Kutra, Lepripada, Balisankara and Sabdega blocks are the most vulnerable areas to such trafficking.
Most of the girls here were lured outside the state on the pretext of good employment and income, the survey revealed.
"I have no wish in life except to see my daughter back home," hopes Blasius Lakra whose daughter was lured to Mumbai by a relative 12 years ago.
"I searched for her and visited several places every time I got a clue of her but haven't traced her yet. I hope she will return one day," said Flora Lakra whose daughter has been missing since 16 years.
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Voices of Blasius and Flora capture the pain and misery of many families who have lost one or more members.
"The true magnitude of the crime in the district is horrifying. A proper planning is needed to curb the menace," said a social activist, Subhasree Ray.
"We are well aware of the rampant human trafficking in the district. We are jointly working with other organisations here to nab the culprits," said Superintendent of Police, Sundergarh, Pinaki Mishra.
According to reports, all the children were being allegedly trafficked to Tamil Nadu where they would have been engaged as labour at thread mill.
Acting on a tip-off, the Government Railway Police (GRP) and Childline officials conducted a raid and rescued all the children from railway station. The children who hail from Kashipur have been handed over to Childline.
Senior officials informed that after ascertaining the exact identities of the children, they would hand over custody to their respective families. Besides, a detailed probe will be launched to identify the agents behind the trafficking racket, police said.
In another incident, Kantabanji police had also rescued 11 bonded labourers and arrested a middleman yesterday.
https://youtu.be/GBIvbgOvqsI
After a review meeting held at the Bolangir DRDA office, Labour Minister Sushant Singh announced the package for 30 gram panchayats of Bolangir and Nuapada districts. The two districts were adopted as model districts for the programme. Besides, a blueprint was also prepared at the meeting to stop illegal immigration and human trafficking in the state.
“To stop illegal immigration to other states and abroad and rehabilitate the migrants, the state government announced the package for Nuapada and Bolangir districts. The financial assistance will be given to 30 GPs of the two districts in phased manner. Besides, various farming equipments and seeds have also been supplied to the GPs. The initiative will be replicated in other districts once it becomes successful,” said the Minister.
Labour Secretary Anu Garg, Commissioner Sachin Ramchandra Jadhav and the Collectors of five districts, including Bolangir, Kalahandi, Sonepur, Nuapada and Bargarh districts attended the meeting.
Meanwhile, police today rescued 20 migrant labourers from Rengali village under Belpada block in Bolangir district who were assembled at a school veranda to be trafficked to Andhra Pradesh. The rescued labourers are residents of Saramuhana village under Patnagarh block in the district. The cops have also nabbed two middlemen in this connection.
The cops also arrested the main accused Anita Patra (28) in this connection and have begun investigation into the incident.
Sources said the 13-year-old girl had left home following an altercation with her mother on December 5, 2015. She met Anita at Nuadihi Chhak, who lured the minor to accompany her to Jamshedpur in Jharkhand. After a few days, the accused took the minor to New Delhi and got her married to one Binod Kumar of Pahar Ganj area in New Delhi on December 8, 2015. After six months of the marriage, the accused again forced the minor to marry another youth of Uttar Pradesh.
On January 21, 2016, family members of the girl had filed a missing complaint at Tiring police station. Acting on the complaint, the police and their Delhi counterpart rescued the victim from New Delhi and arrested Anita.
Police have recorded the statement of the victim under Section-164 of the CrPC. Besides, the accused has also been forwarded to court, said Tiring police station IIC Padmalochan Panigrahy.
The Commission said that it received a tip-off and rescued the girls from Hotel Hriday Inn in Delhi's Paharganj area on Tuesday night.
"The raid lasted the entire night and assistance was provided by Delhi Police. The entire hotel only had trafficked Nepali girls who were being sent to Gulf countries," DCW Chief Swati Maliwal said.
In a similar incident earlier, the Commission had rescued 18 women -- two of them were from Bengal and the rest were Nepali.
Last week, DCW rescued 16 Nepali girls who were about to be trafficked to Gulf countries.
"Within a week 3 rescue operations, 73 Nepali girls were rescued from Munirka, Maidangarhi and Paharganj," Maliwal tweeted.
"The poorest of the poor women and girls of Nepal are being exploited. True, Delhi is slowly becoming Trafficking Capital of the world!" she added.
The police had registered a case against Daler and others after it was alleged that the accused took money from people to the tune of Rs 1 crore on the pretext of taking them abroad.
A complainant, Bakhshish Singh, alleged that the deal never matured and the accused failed to return the money.
The case was registered in 2003 in Patiala. Daler was subsequently arrested and released on bail after a few days.
The CBI on Friday also conducted searches at four places in Delhi which resulted recovery of incriminating documents and other articles from the premises of accused persons - Lalit David Dean, Sanjeev Raj and Varun Choudhary.
An FIR was registered on Thursday against Dean, Raj and Choudhary, said a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official, adding "the accused had collected Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh from the parents and sent the students, aged between 13-18 years, to France on the pretext of rugby training".
"After the students reached France in February 2016, they were dumped in a gurudwara."
The accused persons, belonging to Delhi and Faridabad (Haryana), have been booked under chages of criminal conspiracy, cheating, trafficking of persons and forgery of Indian Penal Code.
"It was alleged that on February 1, 2016, a group of 25 students of two Kapurthala (Punjab) based schools led by the accused persons embarked at Delhi airport to participate in International rugby training camp in Paris on the basis of alleged invitation received from French Federation, Paris.
"All of them visited Paris and thereafter, the 25 students also attended a rugby training camp at Paris for about a week.
It was also alleged that the visa in respect of said students were obtained from French Embassy at Delhi on the basis of forged and fabricated documents. All the 25 were left in Paris and their return tickets were got cancelled by accused but two boys somehow managed to come back before their tickets had been cancelled.
"One boy was even caught by French police after which Interpol was informed and then the CBI started investigation," the CBI official added.
CBI sources say that most of the trafficked students are from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.
Security services had received two complaints, the first by a Gambian residing in Morocco, who claimed to have received a telephone call from one of his fellow citizens asking him for a sum of money in European currency so that he can hand it to the individuals who kidnapped him for his release.
The police said the second complaint was lodged by another Gambian citizen who said he was kidnapped and released after paying a ransom.
After investigations, police conducted a raid on a "detention facility", a two-storey house located in a residential area. They arrested eight suspects of Ivorian, Senegalese and Malian nationalities. According to an official, 16 sub-Saharans were also detained in the house.
A judicial inquiry was opened under the supervision of the public prosecutor's office.
"One of the major demands of the 'Bharat Yatra' campaign is that Parliament must pass a stringent law against human trafficking, including child trafficking," Satyarthi said, flagging off the Meghalaya lap of the campaign.
He asserted that he has declared a war against crimes like rape, sexual abuse and child trafficking, and hoped the 'Bharat Yatra' campaign will make India safe again for children.
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"I refuse to accept that the innocence, smiles and freedom of our children can keep getting stripped and raped. These are not ordinary crimes. This is a moral epidemic haunting our nation. "Our children are not safe either in homes, schools or neighbourhood or anywhere, and the perpetrators (of such crimes) roam freely. We just cannot wait and watch," Satyarthi said.
He was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, along with Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai.
Hailing Satyarthi's campaign, Meghalaya Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Zenith M Sangma said that the state government will leave no stone unturned to create a child-friendly society.
Satyarthi had begun his 35-day-long nation-wide 'Bharat Yatra' march on September 11. The 11,000-km yatra will travel through 22 states, culminating in New Delhi on October 16.
All the children belonged to Kurumapali village under Mathili block in the district, reports said.
Acting on a tip off, officials of the Malkangiri Childline intercepted three vehicles in Padia area and rescued the minors. The child labourers were being trafficked to Andhra Pradesh, Chennai and other parts of the country, said the officials.
“All the rescued children are orphans and have been sent to the children’s home after being produced before Child Welfare Committee (CWC). We will intimate the matter to the concerned district administration and Labour Officer,” informed Chairman of Malkangiri CWC, Ashok Patnaik.
Police have begun investigation into the incident to arrest those involved in the crime.
With this, as many as 43 young girls and boys of Nepali and Myanmarese Rohingya descent have been rescued by the Mizoram Police in the last fornight.
"Acting on a tip-off, the police rescued eight young girls and four young boys from a house in Bawngkawn in Aizawl district late on Sunday. Those rescued were possibly victims of human trafficking," Aizawl District Police Chief Karthik Kashyap told IANS, adding that the rescued have now been lodged at different protective and welfare homes after taking permission from the court.
A fortnight ago, the Mizoram Police had rescued 23 teenage Nepali girls and eight Rohingya Muslim girls from two different locations in the state, who were also suspected to be victims of human trafficking.
"The police and the other law enforcement agencies are investigating the matter. The police have also been put on alert against human trafficking making Mizoram its corridor," Kashyap said.
Another police officer said that the 12 rescued youth told the police that they were from Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh and were abducted by a group of men in the third week of April and brought to Mizoram by truck.
According to the Border Security Force (BSF) and the police in Tripura, Mizoram and Assam, over 200 Rohingya Muslims were detained during the past one year in Tripura, southern Assam and Mizoram after they fled the Rohingya refugee camps in Chittagong in southeast Bangladesh.
Over 738,000 Rohingya Muslims from the Rakhine state in western Myanmar have arrived in the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh since the beginning of the ethinic troubles there on August 25, 2017, following a wave of violence and persecution, which has been described by the United Nations as an attempt at "ethnic cleansing".
On and off, the Rohingya Muslims from Bangladeshi refugee camps have entered the northeastern states of India illegally in search of jobs or after being trapped in human trafficking.
Four northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Manipur (398 km), Nagaland (215 km) and Mizoram (510 km) -- share 1,643 km unfenced border with Myanmar while Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Mizoram (318 km) and Assam (263 km) share an 1,880 km border with Bangladesh.
The mountainous terrains, dense forests and other hindrances have made most parts of the unfenced borders porous and vulnerable, enabling illegal immigrants and intruders cross over without any hurdle.
A government task force on child labour had received a tip-off that minors were employed at Parle-G factory in Amasivni area, said Vidhansabha Police Station House Officer (SHO) Ashwani Rathore.
The task force raided the factory Friday evening and rescued 26 children, he said.
They were sent to juvenile shelter home, he added.
Based on a complaint filed by the Women and Child Development Department officials, a case was registered against the factory owner under the Juvenile Justice Act, the SHO said.
Preliminary probe suggested that the rescued minors were aged between 13 to 17 years, he added.
District Child Protection Officer Navneet Swarnkar told PTI that a district task force was constituted to conduct a drive to mark World Day Against Child Labour on June 12.
"As part of the campaign, a total of 51 child labourers were rescued in the last six days in the district," he said.
Some of the children allegedly employed at Parle-G factory hailed from Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, Swarnkar said. Their parents were being contacted, he added.
According to the statements given by the children, they worked from 8 am to 8 pm and received wages ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 per month, he added.
"We are hoping that Child Welfare Committee will add other sections like 3, 3A, 14 of Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act and section 370 (buying or disposing of any person as a slave) of IPC," said Sandip Kumar Rao, state coordinator of NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan who was part of the rescue operation.
On June 5, on the pretext of giving a job at an incense stick factory in Madhya Pradesh, the middleman Jugal Oram took the minor girl with him after convincing her mother.
Around a month later, the minor girl called her mother over phone and informed that Oram had sold her to a man in Katni.
Subsequently, a complaint was lodged at Dharuadihi Police Station by the mother of the girl following which an investigation was initiated by the cops.
“A probe into the matter is underway by the higher officials. Action will be taken as per law,” informed Sundergarh Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Balabhadra Deep.
Two middlemen have been detained for their alleged involvement in child trafficking. During interrogation, the two detainees revealed that the children were being taken to a madrasa in Mumbai for studies. However, they failed to produce any valid document.
Following their rescue, the children have been shifted to a short-stay home. Railway SP Arya Prakash Swain is reportedly inquiring into the alleged child trafficking.
It is pertinent to mention that human trafficking is rampant in tribal-dominated districts of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.
The cops had arrested three persons - middleman Jugal Oram, his associate Savita Dubey and Sunil Lodhi yesterday. On the pretext of giving a job at an incense stick factory in Madhya Pradesh, Jugal Oram took the minor girl with him after convincing her mother. Later, he allegedly sold the girl to Sunil Lodhi who then forcibly married her.
Basing on the complaint filed by the girl’s mother, a special team was formed on the direction of Sundergarh SP.
Following the arrests, Lodhi was lodged at Dharuadihi Police Station after the medical check-up yesterday. However, he was found dead in the wee hours today. As the body carries ligature mark on neck, Lodhi’s death has now come under scanner as the incident occurred in police custody.
It is suspected that Lodhi might have committed suicide inside the lock up. However, the exact cause of death can only be ascertained after post mortem.
Meanwhile, senior police officials could not be contacted on the incident.
He said this while replying to a question in the Assembly on Tuesday.
"Though the workers going abroad are governed by Emigration Act, 1983 and do not come under the purview of the Labour and Employees' State Insurance department, the state government has ensured rescue of 72 workers from foreign countries," Singh informed the Assembly.
The minister said highest number of 62 workers hailing from Ganjam district, were rescued from Saudi Arabia followed by 5 (all from Khurda district) from Malaysia and 2 from Kuwait. One each worker was rescued from Muscat, Bahrain and Dubai.
In the domestic front, in 2018-19 fiscal 2,741 license have been issued to contractors for engagement of 1,28,348 people as migrant workers in different parts of the country, the minister said.
Similarly, the minister said, the Labour department has also helped rescue of 1,387 migrant labourers from Odisha working in different states. "This apart, the state government has also rescued 745 Odia workers trapped in floods in Kerala last year," the minister said.
He said that the state government has set up Anti Human Trafficking Units in all the 11 migrant worker prone districts. The government has also opened Migrant Support and Resource Centre at Kantabanji in Bolangir district, Padmapur in Bargarh district and Balugaon in Khurda district to assist the people going as migrant labourers to other states and countries.
The people in 11 districts - Bolangir, Bargarh, Kalahandi, Subarnapur, Nuapada, Ganjam, Gajapati, Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur and Khurda -, are suggested to undertake voluntary registration in gram panchayat level.
Of the 1,28,348 registered migrant labourers going outside in search of work, 77,687 hail from Bolangir district alone.
Four districts - Bhadrak, Deogarh, Kendrapara and Angul - do not have any registered migrant workers.
As per reports, the minor who lost his parents at an early age had reportedly gone missing some five years back. A missing complaint was also filed by his sister.
Senior police officials informed that two youths-Chiranjiv Chakraborthy and Prabha Panda had held the minor boy captive at plot no-B 49 in Rourkela sector-1.
Sources said the duo runs a dog breeding centre and had engaged the minor to take care of the animals. Moreover, they used to torture the minor boy at regular intervals. Several hot branding and other injury marks on the minor boy’s body speak volumes about the inhuman treatment and torture inflicted by the two tormentors.
“They had engaged him to take care of their dogs. But my brother was treated like a dog during these long years,” said Hina Bibi, sister of the minor boy.
Hina further stated that though she is happy to get back his brother, stern action should be taken against the two youths who tortured him.
SP Sarthak Sarangi informed that the minor boy was rescued under the Operation Pari-III, launched to rescue missing children of the State.
“We got information that a child was engaged as a labourer. Later, we found that two youths, who run a dog breeding center, had held him captive. When we raided the spot, the youths had hid the boy inside a bed,” said Sarangi.
Sarangi further confirmed that the minor was subjected to torture. A case under human trafficking act will be registered against the two youths while necessary steps will be taken for the relief and rehabilitation of the boy.
Mohammad Yousuf Khan, his wife Bithi Begum and Sojib, native of West Bengal living in Hyderabad, were arrested in April by Hyderabad police for trafficking and sexually exploiting Bangladeshi women, he said.
Yousuf and Bithi were running a prostitution racket at a premises in Uppuguda, Hyderabad, he said.
Acting on a tip-off, the police raided the premises and on April 21 and arrested three persons and rescued five Bangladeshi women, the official said.
On August 9, the case was transferred to the Central Crime Station, Hyderabad, he said.
Due to the gravity of the offence and its inter-state and cross-border connections, the case was taken over by the NIA for a detailed investigation, the official added.
On July 17, Parliament approved the National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill to enable the NIA, among other things, to additionally investigate offenses related to human trafficking, counterfeit currency, manufacture or sale of prohibited arms, cyber-terrorism, and offenses under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908.
The initiative will strengthen women's safety and instil a greater sense of security among women. Irani thanked the Home Ministry for accepting the recommendations of the WCD ministry.
Speaking to IANS, Irani said, "I'm grateful that the Home Ministry was quick to not only respond to our suggestion but also helped expedite the administrative procedures required."
"It has long been a need articulated by women and parents across the country, a concern shared by many NGOs that today finds resonance in these two projects. The government under Narendra Bhai (Modi) is committed to strengthen institutional support to help better protect women and children in the country, the resolve of the same is manifested in these projects," Irani added.
The National Commission of Women has applauded the move. "This will help add another layer to ensure safety and security of women. Thanks to the Home Minister," NCW said in a tweet.
NCW said it has always advocated establishing anti-trafficking units in every district to curb the menace of trafficking of women and children.
Diyalu Nial is not a newsmaker today. But a fateful day in November 2013, he was all over newspapers for being a survivor of human trafficking. By his own admission, he left Pippalguda village in Jayapatna, 180 kms from Bhawanipatna, in search of greener pastures. Lured with a good income, Diyalu agreed to the terms and conditions of a middleman. But the then 17-year-old never imagined he would return to his village only after bartering one of his palms for a life of freedom in barely 15 days after he boarded the train to Hyderabad.
JOBLESSNESS & POVERTY: One of three siblings, Diyalu was born to parents for whom survival was a struggle. Uneducated, all the three worked in farms of others to fend for themselves. So when Diyalu was lured by a middleman from the same village with a job offer, money and food, he promptly agreed. As he and Nilambar, another villager reached the station to board a train, they were surprised to see 12 others awaiting the same middleman. On board, Diyalu and Nilambar slept off and woke up to realise that the 12 others escaped from the train and there began the story of torture for both of them.
Instead of going forward, the middleman took them to Nuapada and made them work in his fields all day and locked them up at night feeding them with one meal. “We were asked to pay Rs 2 lakh for the 12 other who fled. He thought we let the others escape and said he had paid the 12 persons with Rs 2 lakh advance and as they had escaped, we will have to pay that back. I knew I was doomed as I won’t be able to pay a single penny let alone Rs 2 Lakh,” explained Diyalu narrating his tryst with the ordeal.
GORY DETAILS OF TRAFFICKING TERROR: On December 15, they were lifted to an unknown jungle and thrashed by the middleman and his friends who were drunk. They were also asked to choose between chopping off of their palms or feet if they wished to be set free. “Foot was important for me to walk and I can manage without one palm. So without batting an eyelid, I agreed for my palm to be chopped if that can lead me back to my native place. The perpetrators too took no time to sever our right palms leaving me and my co-villager bleeding profusely. Thinking us to be dead, they deserted us in the jungle from where we traced our path back to a road where we got into a bus. The next I realized, we both were being treated at a hospital and media was all around,’’ explains a visibly shaken Diyalu while narrating the trauma even after six summers.
They got medical attention and also legal assistance that led to the arrest of the human traffickers who have also been convicted and jailed. The incident was widely reported and instrumental in instilling a sense of fear among the existing middlemen operating in various villages. But all that has not brought normalcy to Diyalu’s life.
LIFE YET TO BE NORMAL: Nilambar passed away recently but Diyalu struggles today to eke out a living. With only one hand to work, He depends on his mother who is also ailing. She makes ropes for sustenance though the earning doesn’t make both ends meet for the two in the family. The International Justice Mission (IJM) that stood by Diyalu in most trying times has been making efforts to provide some option for him to earn. “He was shattered when we first met him. After six years now he is coming back to normalcy but at a slow pace. We plan to provide him a shop where selling anything would be doable for him,” says Mathew Joji, Director of Advocacy IJM that had organised the interaction session with trafficking survivors at a workshop in Kolkata on Unsafe Zones: Stories of Violence and Vulnerability at Work.
Ask Diyalu if he remembers the bad times now and he says, “I can’t even sleep at night as the dark memories haunt me.” He stays with his mother in a house that has been constructed under a government scheme. But he feels let down as no government official has visited him since the incident. “I don’t know what is in store for me. We do not even get food every day as it depends on how much ropes my mother can make and sell,” says a remorseful Diyalu.
Does he plan to settle down and get married? “Yes, I want to. For my selfish interest you may say but who will look after me and my mother? I need someone to cook for me at least and help in basic works,” Diyalu says in a despondent tone.
Well, after spending some moments with him, it was understandable why he wore an oversized jacket. He needed a long sleeve to hide his severed hand! And he was doing it all the time! “Even now there is a chill in the hand and gets paralysed sometimes so I keep it in,’’ he immediately diverts as eyes fall on his hands.
STARK REALITY: Many migrate to other places while others get trafficked on the lure of earning good. A menace prevailing all around the country has telling tales from Odisha. Every day, someone or the other is crying for help from a distant land. As per the latest NCRB data, 302 persons have been trafficked which includes 60 males and 57 females below the age of 18 years. Above 18 years, 124 males and 61 females were trafficked. Victims rescued in 2017 stood at 240 so the rest are missing still. In 2016, police recorded at least three women and two child trafficking cases every five days in Odisha. The year saw 84 cases registered and as many as 226 women and around 206 children trafficked from the state. Though the numbers show an improvement over the years, there’s a dire need to provide basic necessities of education, employment and awareness that can arrest further spread of the menace.
Simultaneous raids were conducted at Prince Anwar Shah Road, Rashbehari Avenue, Bhawanipore and the New Market area late Sunday night, they said.
Seven women were rescued from an apartment on Prince Anwar Shah Road in the Jadavpur police station area, while 10 others were brought to safety in a raid at a salon in the Bhawanipore police station area, a senior officer said.
"We have been receiving complaints regarding the sex trade going on in these locations. There were several complaints lodged, following which we carried out the raid," he said.
Six women were rescued from a building's first floor on Rashbehari Avenue, from where the anti-human trafficking unit of the Kolkata Police also arrested four people, who were identified as customers, a brothel owner, and a manager.
A beauty parlour on Mirza Galib Street in the New Market area was also raided and six women were rescued. Six people were arrested from there, he said.
Details of other arrests are yet to be known.
Police said those arrested have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and further investigations are on.
The rescued women have been sent to shelter homes, they said.
(PTI)
Thursday morning, as many as 32 migrant labourers including nine men, nine women and 14 minors were rescued by police from Tureikela railway station while they were being trafficked to other states.
All the rescued labourers hail from Belpada block in the district.
According to reports, some trafficking agents were planning to take the labourers by train when police upon being tipped off carried out a raid and rescued the labourers. They were subsequently taken to Tureikela police station for questioning.
While further investigation is underway to trace the persons behind trafficking of the labouers, police said an inquiry will be done to find out where they were being trafficked and whether the labourers are registered or no.
Frequent trafficking of labourers has raised serious questions on the district administration. A day earlier, 16 migrant labourers were rescued from Kantabanji railway station in the district.
According to reports, Kantabanji police rescued the 41 labourers including 10 minors when they were being taken to Berhampur by a middleman in a bus yesterday. The rescued labourers claimed that they were forced to migrate outside the district due to lack of work.
It is not for the first time that bonded labourers have been rescued in Bolangir district. Earlier in December, 27 migrant labourers from Patnagarh area of Bolangir district were rescued while they were reportedly being taken to work in a brick kiln in Ganjam district.
On January 15, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced a special package for 11 migration-affected districts to help workers earn better livelihood. The move was aimed at preventing them from migrating to other states.
As per the announcement, the workers will now get employment for 200 days in a year in 20 vulnerable blocks of four districts-Bargarh, Bolangir, Nuapada and Kalahandi under MGNREGA scheme on a pilot basis. Besides, they will also get Rs 286 as daily wage instead of Rs 188 per day.
The livelihood package is likely to be extended to other seven districts in a phased manner, said government sources.
After arresting the mastermind couple SK Ibrahim and his wife Anjali, who was popularly called as Didi, the cops have arrested three agents- Raju, Prashant Parida and Uttam Jena and produced them before the court today. Prashant is believed to be one of the key members and associates of Sunil Meher, who was running a major sex racket in the State.
Preliminary investigation points towards the involvement of a youth from Bhubaneswar outskirts, who allegedly had a role in arranging fake Aadhaar cards for the girls from Bangladesh. The youth in question is one of the key members of the racket and is still absconding, sources said.
It is said that Anjali’s sister and brother-in-law are the key members of the high-profile racket as the duo was looking after the logistics of the racket including sending girls from Bangladesh to Kolkata and then to Bhubaneswar.
Police sources said the sex racket involving Bangladeshi sex workers was operating in Bhubaneswar and Pipili area in Puri district. The investigating officers have intensified probe to verify the Aadhaar credentials of the six girls who were detained from a rented house in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.
According to reports, father of one of the girls has also reached Bhubaneswar from Bangladesh today. All eyes will be on Odisha Police when its team will leave for Kolkata and Bangladesh for further probe.
All the nine labourers were reportedly lured by a middleman identified as Babul Singh who assured them of providing a work at Rs 350 per day in Uttar Pradesh.
“The employer started to torture us on the third day itself. We were beaten and made to work even during illness,” Oram added.
The horrific tale of torture came to light after Oram escaped from the brick kiln and returned to Odisha. It is alleged that one of the labourers from the State has been murdered in Uttar Pradesh.
“My husband is still in Uttar Pradesh. We have learnt that he is being tortured,” said Laxmi Nag, wife of a labourer.
“All the labourers are being tortured and made to work even in illness. We appeal the State government to take necessary steps and rescue them,” said Gurubari Nayak, wife of another labourer.
Social activist, Prakash Paswan informed that 9 labourers are still stranded and being tortured. "Odisha government should intervene and take steps to rescue them from the brick kiln,” he said.
According to reports, Sundergarh district tops in illegal human trafficking in the State. Without labour licence, several middlemen are trafficking people from the district to other States.
Meanwhile, Rourkela labour officer Pranab Kumar Patra has assured that steps will be taken to rescue the labourers from Uttar Pradesh.
“We have asked the labourer Jitu Oram to share more details. We will take appropriate steps to rescue them,” said Patra.
https://youtu.be/i6pQzlR2DWg
Though there is no confirmation of involvement of any dedicated racket, it is suspected that middlemen are forcing the children to beg on streets. The situation also hints towards rise in human-trafficking cases.
A few days back, two kids were spotted begging at Puri Badadanda with some people considering it a good deed and charity did not hesitate to donate some money while some others ignored them.
It may be noted that this was not the only instance of child begging as several instances have been observed when children were found begging on the streets of the holy city. Some of the child beggars have joined their family profession of begging while some beg on the streets to slake their hunger.
“Children need to be counselled. Either family members have engaged them in the begging profession or some situation is forcing them to do so. May be some middlemen are bringing needy and poor children from different locations and engaging them in this profession,” says Prasanna Kumar Das, President of Citizen Awareness Forum.
“Our law states delivering free education and free food are compulsory, but it seems, these children are deprived of their basic rights” added Das.
Meanwhile, District Child Welfare Committee Chairman and District Child Protection Committee Chairperson of Puri have admitted the instances and raised serious concerns over the matter.
As per law, education has been made mandatory for individuals up to the age of 14 years. Whenever any such incident is reported or comes to fore, children are rescued and required arrangements are made for them to access education. However, after some days, parents of these children create hurdles.
“Right to education has been made compulsory for all. Everyone will get free education till 8th class and we take immediate steps to rescue them and make the required arrangements. Our initiatives had curbed such occurrences in the city, but now it seems to have started again. We will take immediate action to put an end to it,” informed Mahabir Rudranandan, Chairman, Child Welfare Committee.
Manoj Kumar Tripathy, Chairperson of District Child Protection Committee urged people to not to engage their children in begging profession.
"We are launching drive to make people aware about the situation through different programmes. Whenever we receive a report of such involvement we immediately rescue children and link them with the education system,” informed Tripathy.
Acting on a tip-off, the police team conducted a raid and rescued the children who hail from Balasore, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts. All of them are now being quizzed by cops to ascertain more information as it appears to be a case of human trafficking.
Moreover, a woman has been detained in connection with the incident and further investigation is on, police said.
The incident has again shifted the focus on the problem of labour migration plaguing the State. Though Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced a special package for 11 migration-affected districts to help workers earn better livelihood, it seems such initiative is yet to yield result.
Also Read Odisha expands ‘Mo Sarkar’ scheme, includes 5 more depts
As per the announcement, the workers will get employment for 200 days in a year in 20 vulnerable blocks of four districts- Bargarh, Bolangir, Nuapada and Kalahandi under MGNREGA scheme on a pilot basis. Besides, they will get Rs 286 as daily wage instead of Rs 188 per day.
Earlier, Odisha Labour department had rescued 250 labourers from Bengaluru in a major crackdown against human trafficking in the month of February. All the labourers hailed from different parts of the State and were working at brick kilns and other factories at Yelahanka in Bengaluru.
This was reportedly the first major achievement of the Labour Department after it was included under the ‘Mo Sarkar’ initiative of Odisha government on January 30.
Earlier, 41 bonded labourers were rescued while they were being allegedly trafficked from Kantabanji area in Bolangir district on January 2020. In December last year, 27 migrant labourers from Patnagarh were rescued while they were reportedly being taken to work in a brick kiln in Ganjam district.
Also Read Labour Migration Continues Unabated In Odisha, 41 Labourers Rescued
https://youtu.be/Kvs1EuCF9nk
These police stations will be set up in all districts of the state for effective action in trafficking cases and a government order (GO) to this effect was issued on October 20, a spokesperson said on Monday.
Forty new anti-human trafficking units will be set up to function as police stations, he said.
So far there are 35 anti-human trafficking units in the state which were set up in 2011 and 2016 by the then governments.
These thanas will have the power to register FIRs, carry out investigation and take required legal action, the spokesperson said.
These thanas are being set up on the directives of the central government department concerned and funds for them have been allotted by the Centre, he said.
The Centre has provided Rs 15 lakh each for the 40 new thanas, amounting to Rs six crore in total, and Rs 12 lakh each for the already existing 35 thanas, amounting to Rs 4.20 crore, the spokesman added.
(PTI)
Friday night, Bolangir Kantabanji police rescued as many as 56 migrant labourers including 23 women and eight children from Kantabanji station here while they were being trafficked to Hyderabad.
While some of the rescued labourers belong to Komana area in Nuapada district, the rest are residents of Bolangir.
Acting on a tip-off, Kantabanji police raided the station and rescued the migrant workers when they were all set to board the Corba-Visakhapatnam Link Express to go to Hyderabad to work at a brick kiln.
According to sources, the labour agent, who was involved in the trafficking, is absconding.
“We generally go to other States due to unavailability of work in Odisha. Due to the pandemic we are jobless since last six months and struggling to make ends meet. The situation is forcing us to migrate to other States in search of work,” said Kapiraj Mahananda, a migrant worker.
Meanwhile, all the labourers have been detained at the Kantabanji Police Station for interrogation. Further investigation into the matter is on.
Recently, 10 dadan labourers including a minor were rescued by Khaprakhol police from near Rengali village in Patnagarh in in the district while they were being trafficked to Hyderabad. The labour agent was also arrested in connection with the case.
(Edited By Devbrat Patnaik)
The incident comes amid the resurgence of mass migration from Odisha to other States especially among the working class with the relaxations of COVID19 pandemic restrictions.
As per reports, the Sinapali Police apprehended a private bus near Hatibandha village following on a tip off about people being taken to Andhra Pradesh in a bus to be engaged as bonded labourers.
The bus named 'Janardan' bearing registration number OD 08M 0675 was reportedly enroute to Hyderabad when the police stopped it near Hatibandha. After seizing the bus, the police arrested its driver, helper and conductor too.
Sources said, the rescued persons belonged to Nuapada, Bolangir and Sonepur districts.
Despite the state government's tall claims of providing livelihood opportunities to the migrants who had returned to Odisha during lockdown, the ground reality, which is contrary to the claims of the government is reportedly forcing them again to leave home.
(Edited By Suryakant Jena)