Officials should change approach of treating trafficked

: There is a need for officials to change the approach of treating victims who are trafficked, Telangana Director General of Police M Mahender Reddy said on Wednesday.

Speaking after inaugurating the annual state-level conference on anti-Human Trafficking here, Reddy said the officials should be empathetic, sensitive and should take the responsibility beyond the duty.

"The psychological state of the victims should be understood and they should not be treated as offenders," the Telangana DGP said according to an official release.

Reddy said the organised gang members involved in the crime are to be identified and their property should be confiscated and the Preventive Detention (PD) Act should be invoked on repeat offenders.

The officials should be sensitised, have knowledge of law and procedures in addressing the crime, he said.

The case studies in this kind of crime will help the master trainers to better train the field officers.

Telangana has zero tolerance towards the crime of human trafficking, Reddy said adding the number of victims from the state in such cases has fallen drastically.