NIA books trafficking case

Hyderabad: In a first of its kind, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Hyderabad registered its first sex trafficking and exploitation case, where five women from Bangladesh were rescued in Hyderabad from a brothel about a month ago, in which three from West Bengal were arrested.

The case was registered on Tuesday, following the recently amended National Investigation Act by the Union government.

The sex trafficking racket was busted by the Chatrinaka police of Hyderabad police commissionerate on April 21, this year, where five women hailing from Bangladesh were rescued from a house near Kandikalgate in Baji Nagar of Uppuguda, where a brothel was being run. The police had arrested three persons – Mohd Yousuf Ali Khan, his wife Bithi Begum alias Khadija Shaik and their associate Sojib, all natives of West Bengal and residing in Hyderabad, under sections 370 A (2) of IPC, Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Prevention of Immoral Traffic Act.

The case was later transferred to the Central Crime station of Hyderabad for further investigation. However, as the gravity of the case was severe, it was handed over to the NIA for an in-depth investigation.

“Having regard to the gravity of the offence and its inter-state and cross border connections, the case has been taken over by the NIA for a detailed investigation,” said NIA officials on Wednesday.

The police sources said that Yousuf Ali Khan and his wife Bithi Begum had moved to Chatrinaka in the month of March, a month before they were arrested. They were also booked in a case at SR Nagar police station in a similar offence.

“The women were brought to the country illegally and they did not have passports. The accused trio is currently out on bail,” said the sources.