NIA court gives life-term to nine in human trafficking racket | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: The NIA special court on Thursday convicted nine accused, including eight Bangladeshi nationals, and sentenced them to life imprisonment for their role in a human trafficking-cum-prostitution racket.The nine convicts are Ruhul Amin Dhali, Mohd Yousuf Khan alias Md Imran, Bithi Begum alias Khadija Shaik, Imamul Ghazi alias Mohd Rana Hussain, Mohammed Al Mamun, Sojib Shaik, Suresh Kumar Das alias Sagor, Mohd Abdulla Munshi alias Abdul Sarkar, and Mohd Ayub Shaik.In Sept 2019, Pahadishareef police busted a prostitution racket and rescued four women, including three Bangladeshi nationals, from brothel houses in Jalpally and Balapur.The women were lured with promises of lucrative jobs and brought to India. After being brought to India, they were forced into prostitution.The case was initially investigated by the Pahadishareef police and was later transferred to the NIA, considering its international ramifications.In 2020, the NIA filed a chargesheet against 12 accused, including three absconders.“Investigation by the NIA established that the arrested accused were associates of Ruhul Amin Dhali and Abdul Barik Sheikh, who illegally trafficked young girls from Bangladesh to India and vice versa. The NIA had already arrested Ruhul on Dec 12, 2019, in another case. The investigation further revealed money transfers between Ruhul and Abdul as commission paid to the former for trafficking people across the borders. Ruhul and 10 other accused had illegally entered India in the 1980s and established a prostitution racket, along with a married couple, Yusuf Khan and Bithi Begum, in various parts of India,” the NIA said in its chargesheet.“The 12 accused hatched a criminal conspiracy along with their associates in Bangladesh to identify young Bangladeshi women in the 19-25 age group and traffic them to India by crossing the Sonai River via Kolkata before taking them to various destinations, including Mumbai and Hyderabad. These women were lured with promises of lucrative jobs and a better quality of life in India,” the probe found.The accused also provided fake Indian identity documents to the victims.After conducting the trial, the court convicted nine accused. In addition to life imprisonment, the court imposed a fine of ₹1.37 lakh. In case of default, they will undergo an additional three years of simple imprisonment.