Human Traffcking

NIA files charge sheet against trafficking gang sending Indians to Laos

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge sheet against members of a human trafficking gang that was sending Indians to Laos to work in cyber crime sweatshops run by Chinese scammers targeting European and American citizens, officials said on Thursday. The agency filed its charge sheet before a special court on Wednesday against gang members Manjoor Alam alias Guddu, Sahil, Ashish alias Akhil, Pawan Yadav alias Afzal alias Afroz, along with the key conspirator, Kamran Haider alias Zaidi. "NIA investigations have revealed that all five were involved in trafficking vulnerable Indian youth to the Golden Triangle Region in Lao PDR where they were forced to commit cyber scams targeting European and American citizens. They operated through the consultancy firm, Ali International Services, which functioned as a front for human trafficking," an NIA spokesperson said in a statement. According to the agency's investigation, Zaidi facilitated the entire operation and extorted

EAM Jaishankar discusses cooperation, issue of trafficking with Laos PM

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday called on Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone and raised the issue of trafficking of Indian nationals through cyber scam centres in the Southeast Asian country and discussed development partnership and cooperation in areas like defence and energy. Jaishankar is in the capital of the Laos People's Democratic Republic to participate in the meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He called on Siphandone along with fellow foreign ministers attending the meeting. "Pleased to call on Lao PDR (People's Democratic Republic) Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone. Conveyed the warm greetings of Prime Minister @narendramodi. Discussed our development partnership and cooperation in defence, heritage conservation, energy, digital and capacity building," Jaishankar said in a post on X. Jaishankar said he values Siphandone's guidance on further strengthening close bilateral ties that are deeply rooted in shared civilisation

Two organ trafficking complaints received, 3 arrests made: Kerala CM

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday informed the state assembly that the state police was investigating complaints alleging that organ trafficking was taking place in the state and several arrests have been made in this connection. Replying to a question on organ trafficking, Vijayan said three people were arrested so far in connection with a case registered at Nedumbassery in Ernakulam district. "One complaint was lodged by a Malappuram resident alleging that two private hospitals in Ernakulam have links to international organ trading mafia. The second complaint is regarding illegal organ transplantation from Thiruvananthapuram," he said. In the Nedumbassery case, he said three people were arrested and the process has been initiated to issue a Blue Corner notice through Interpol for prime accused Madhu Jayakumar, who is absconding. A 13-member police team is probing the matter. Meanwhile, the police is probing into the illegal organ transplantation from ...

Hinduja human trafficking trial set for June as family's arguments rejected

"The charges of usury and human-trafficking were sufficiently well-described by the Prosecutor's Office and don't need to be sent back for restating," Judge Mascotto said

CBI busts network trafficking Indians to Russia-Ukraine conflict zone

The Central Bureau of Investigation has busted a major human trafficking network that took Indians to the Russia-Ukraine war zone in the garb of providing jobs abroad, officials said on Thursday. The agency is conducting searches at over 10 locations in seven cities, they said. The officials said the agency has registered an FIR against various visa consultancy firms and agents. Several individuals have been detained during the search and Rs 50 lakh has been seized, they added.

CID records statements of 66 passengers of flight sent back from France

The statements of all 66 passengers from Gujarat on the Nicaragua-bound flight that was sent back to India by France have been recorded as part of the state CID's probe into alleged human trafficking, and an FIR will be lodged soon, an official said on Saturday. The flight operated by Romanian charter company Legend Airlines had landed at Vatry near Paris on December 21 after which French authorities intervened to probe a human trafficking angle. The flight, with 276 passengers, landed in Mumbai on December 26. While the flight that landed in France had 303 Indian passengers, 27 sought asylum in the European nation and stayed back. Speaking about the probe, Sanjay Kharat, Superintendent of Police, CID-Crime and Railways, who is investigating the case, said details of 15 immigration agents suspected to be involved in the case have been gathered. "There were 66 persons from Gujarat on board. The CID Crime has recorded their statements. They are now back in their native villages in th

Most passengers back, consular help will be given to those in France: MEA

Bagchi noted that the chartered flight was heading from UAE to Nicaragua. He said that the cases are being dealt with by French authorities as per their local laws

Grounded plane with 303 passengers, mostly Indians, allowed to leave France

A Nicaragua-bound flight carrying 303 passengers, mostly Indians, was allowed to resume its journey on Monday after three days of grounding by the French authorities at an airport near Paris over suspected "human trafficking", according to local media reports on Sunday. After authorising the plane to leave, the French judges chose to cancel the hearings of the over 300 passengers due to irregularities in the procedure, BFM TV, a French news broadcast television and radio network, reported. Four French judges earlier in the day began questioning the 303 passengers detained by French authorities at Vatry airport, 150 km east of Paris, since Thursday over suspected "human trafficking". The hearings were conducted as part of the investigation opened by the Paris prosecutor's office on suspicion of human trafficking. The plane is expected to take off again on Monday morning. Its destination is not yet known. It could travel to India, where the passengers are from, to Nicaragua, its ...

Indian student beaten, forced into labour for months in US; three charged

Authorities in the US have rescued a 20-year-old Indian student, who was held captive for months without access to a bathroom, viciously beaten, and forced to work at three homes by his cousin and two other men in an incident described as "absolutely inhumane and unconscionable." The victim, whose name was not disclosed, spent months trapped in three homes in the US state of Missouri. On Wednesday, police descended upon a home on a rural highway in St Charles County. They later arrested Venkatesh R Sattaru, Sravan Varma Penumetcha and Nikhil Verma Penmatsa, and on Thursday charged them with offences including human trafficking, kidnapping and assault. Police were dispatched to investigate the home after a concerned citizen became aware of his situation and called 911. The victim is safe and being treated at a hospital for multiple bone fractures, as well as lacerations and injuries covering his entire body, said prosecutor Joe McCulloch. Over seven months, the men locked the stude

NIA conducts raids in human trafficking cases, Myanmar national detained

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday conducted nationwide raids to arrest those involved in human trafficking and detained a person from Myanmar in Jammu, according to officials. The raids, being conducted in eight states and two Union Territories, pertain to human trafficking cases, a spokesperson of the NIA said. The official said searches were carried out in Tripura, Assam, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Haryana, Rajasthan and the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry. A Rohingya Muslim from Myanmar was detained during a raid in Jammu and Kashmir, an official said in Jammu. Zaffar Alam was taken into custody from his temporary residence in the Bathindi area of Jammu around 2 am, while another accused is on the run, the official said. The raids were restricted to slums housing Myanmar immigrants and were conducted in connection with a case related to violation of the Passports Act and human trafficking, the official in Jammu said.

Andrew Tate appears in Romanian court to face human trafficking charges

Andrew Tate, a social media personality known for expressing misogynistic views online, appeared on Wednesday at a court in Romania, where prosecutors have charged him with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to exploit women. Tate and his brother, Tristan, who is also charged with the offenses, arrived Wednesday at a court in the capital Bucharest, flanked by six bodyguards. Prosecutors have also filed charges against two Romanian women in the case. Romania's anti-organised crime agency alleged that the four defendants formed a criminal group in 2021 in order to commit the crime of human trafficking in Romania as well as the United States and Britain. The agency alleged that seven female victims were misled and transported to Romania, where they were sexually exploited and subjected to physical violence by the gang. One defendant is accused of raping a woman twice in March 2022, according to the statement. Tate, 36, has resided in Romania since 2017. The former ...

Human trafficking not limited to weaker sections of society: J&K L-G

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Thursday described human trafficking as a challenge, besides drug smuggling and illegal arms trade, saying though it is directly linked to social and economic development, it is not limited to weaker sections of society. Speaking at an awareness programme on anti-human trafficking here, Sinha called upon the society to collectively fight the challenge. "After drug smuggling and illegal arms trade, human trafficking is a challenge before us. I hope this seminar, along with creating awareness, will also create a roadmap which will help the law enforcement agencies in stopping it," the LG said. He said that in the present times, human trafficking was not a small challenge but "an extraordinary one". "National and international criminal networks have become a part of this crime. Thousands of innocents suffer because of this. Economically weaker sections of society, women, children, migrants, and the displaced especially are unsafe when

Human trafficking moving deeper underground due to Covid-19: UN report

Covid-19 resulted in a decline in number of detected human trafficking victims as there were fewer opportunities for traffickers to operate and some trafficking forms were less likely to be detected

Satyarthi demands urgent passage of Anti-Trafficking bill in Parl session

Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi has demanded urgent passage of Anti-Trafficking Bill in the upcoming monsoon session of parliament without further delay

Plea in SC seeks life imprisonment for offences like bribery, tax evasion

A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre to ascertain the feasibility of confiscating black money, benami properties and disproportionate assets. The petition, which is likely to come up for hearing in the coming days, has also sought life imprisonment for offences such as bribery, black money, benami property, tax evasion, money laundering, profiteering, grain hoarding, food adulteration, human and drug trafficking, black marketing and cheating. The petition was filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay in view of corruption watchdog Transparency International placing India at 80 in Corruption Perception Index earlier this year. Due to weak and ineffective anti-corruption laws, India has never been ranked even among top the 50 in the Corruption Perception Index but the Centre has not strengthened the laws to weed-out the menace of corruption, which brazenly offends rule of law as well as right to life, liberty and dignity guaranteed under Articles

ICSSR begins research project on human trafficking, child labour in UP

The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) has started research work in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district on human trafficking, child labour and child marriage, officials said.

CBI case against 3 agents for trafficking 25 minors from Punjab to France

The accused had collected Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh from the parents and sent the students to France on the pretext of rugby training

Promised work, Myanmar women instead forced to marry in China

US branded Myanmar one of the world's worst centres for human trafficking