Kanpur: The Police have busted a larger human-trafficking nexus spread across several countries.
It was targeting women aged between 24 and 50 years on the pretext of getting them employed as domestic help for a decent salary in the Gulf countries such as Oman, Qatar, Kuwait or Saudi Arabia, officials said.
The victims are not only from Uttar Pradesh but also other states like Punjab, Goa, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka respectively.
Kanpur's Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Salman Taj Patil said that the human-trafficking racket was broken following a city resident's complaint in April.
It was learnt that his wife was allegedly trapped in Oman. On police investigation there was uncovered a larger International nexus.
"When we extended the scope of the investigation, the officers soon understood that the matter was related to human trafficking.
Police Commissioner Asim Arun engaged Kanpur's Anti-Human Trafficking Unit to go deeper into the case.
While, the central agencies like the MEA were also awakened herewith. Their help was pursued in emancipating the victims.
"In the last four months, 12 such states -- six from Kanpur, two each from Punjab and Chennai and one each from Goa and Karnataka -- were brought back to the country safely with the MEA's help," the officer said.
He said the police investigation has revealed that a Sri Lankan-origin woman named Ayesha in Oman was the main character. It is she who dealt with the entire network abroad.
Her key Indian stooges are allegedly based in Bengaluru. They have a rapport with travel agents in different states who indulged in trapping women for sending them to foreign countries on a tourist visa, it was reported.
During the probe, two Kanpur residents -- Muzammil and Atiqur Rahman -- who worked as travel agents and had sent some women to Gulf countries were arrested, according to police officials.
The two led the police to know of the all-India network operated by Bengaluru-based Amin, who too was caught, they added.
The gang sent about 18 women from Kanpur and connecting cities to the Gulf countries in the last two years.
Most of these women are in the age group of 24 to 40 years and three are in the age group of 40 to 50 years.
All these women were sent to Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman, one of the officials affirmed.
