Human Trafficking

Trafficking-conversion case: Chhattisgarh court grants bail to Kerala nuns

A special court in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district on Saturday granted bail to three persons, including two nuns from Kerala, arrested on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion, lawyers said. Principal District and Sessions Judge (NIA court) Sirajuddin Qureshi had reserved the order on their bail pleas after a hearing on Friday. The court has granted conditional bail to the trio, defence lawyer Amrito Das said. Catholic nuns Preethi Merry and Vandana Francis, both from Kerala, along with Sukaman Mandavi, were arrested at the Durg railway station on July 25, following a complaint from a local Bajrang Dal functionary, who accused them of forcibly converting three girls from Narayanpur and trafficking them, a railway police official had said. Following the bail hearing on Friday, Das had said that the prosecution had not asked for the trio's custody for interrogation, and the alleged victims had been sent back to their homes.

US jails 2 men for smuggling plot that froze Indian family at Canada border

Two men, including an Indian national, have been jailed in the US for a smuggling operation that led to the deaths of an Indian family of four who froze near the US-Canada border during a blizzard

NIA arrests key accused involved in human trafficking to US via dunki route

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a key accused allegedly involved in sending a man illegally to the US via the infamous 'dunki' route. The term 'dunki', believed to have originated from the word "donkey", refers to an illegal pathway that immigrants take to enter countries like the United States without proper documentation. Their risky and arduous travel is usually facilitated by a human-trafficking syndicate. Accused Gagandeep Singh alias Goldie, a resident of west Delhi's Tilak Nagar, has been arrested by the NIA, an official statement said on Sunday. Goldie was allegedly paid around Rs 45 lakh by a victim from Punjab's Tarn Taran district for illegal immigration, it said. The victim was sent to the US via the 'dunki' route in December 2024, the statement issued by the NIA said. He was deported to India by US authorities on February 15 and had thereafter filed a complaint against the accused "agent". The case was originally registered by the Punjab Police a

Why illegal recruitment agents across India get away with human trafficking

States failing to investigate and prosecute networks that dupe and exploit the vulnerable

US foreign aid freeze hampers Cambodia's fight against human trafficking

President Donald Trump's freeze on foreign assistance has dealt a blow to organisations fighting human trafficking and forced labour in Cambodia, where tens of thousands of people are held captive and forced to work in call centres running telephone scams. Hundreds of thousands of people work in remote compounds in countries including Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos where they run online scams targeting people all over the world, including Americans, according to UN estimates. Some are trafficked and lured to the jobs under false pretenses and forced to work against their will. A shelter for people who manage to leave these compounds run by the Catholic charity Caritas recently let some victims go and may stop accepting further victims due to the funding squeeze, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said. The shelter, in the capital Phnom Penh is the only one not operated by the government which takes in victims of scam compounds, both foreign and Cambodian. The sources ...

Best of BS Opinion: How AI, trade, and immigration generate conflict

From the use of AI in the military, to its use to generate unrest, from illegal human trafficking leading to conflict between allies, our columns today deal with the idea conflict

Probing role of Canadian colleges, entities in human trafficking racket: ED

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it is investigating the "involvement" of some Canadian colleges and few Indian entities in a money laundering case linked to trafficking of Indians into the US from the borders of Canada. The investigation of the federal agency is linked to the death of a four-member Indian family, hailing from Dingucha village of Gujarat, who were killed due to extreme cold weather while trying to illegally cross the Canada-US border on January 19, 2022. The ED took cognisance of an Ahmedabad Police FIR against main accused Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel and some others to file its complaint under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Patel and others are alleged to have "hatched a well-planned conspiracy to send people (Indians) to the USA through Canada via illegal channels there by committing the offence of human trafficking". The agency's probe had earlier found that as part of this human trafficking racket, the accuse

Sexual offences now gender neutral, as BNS introduces key changes

The newly enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which replaces the British-era Indian Penal Code, has made sexual offences "gender neutral" for the victim and the perpetrator, according to official documents. "Both boys and girls could get procured for sexual exploitation. The word 'minor girl' in section 366A of the IPC has been replaced with the word 'child' in clause 96 of the BNS to cover both male and female children below the age of 18 years and the offence of procurement has been made punishable," an explanatory note for the new criminal law said. It said Section 366B in the IPC has been made gender neutral by replacing the phrase "importation of girl from a foreign country" with "importation of girl or boy from a foreign country". It has been introduced as clause 141 in the BNS to cover the offence of importing into India any girl under the age of 21 years or any boy under the age of 18 years with the intent that such person will be forced or seduced to illicit sexual acts with .

Swiss court clears Hinduja family members of human trafficking charges

The complainants in the case withdrew their allegations, stating in court that they had been misled into signing statements they did not even understand

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 ...

'Spent more on dog than staff': Billionaire Hindujas accused of trafficking

The trial got underway on Monday after four members of the Hinduja family were indicted last year by Geneva prosecutors for alleged human trafficking and mistreatment of their domestic staff

Key accused in trafficking of Bangladeshis, Rohingyas into India arrested

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested a wanted accused involved in trafficking of Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas into India through the north-eastern borders. Jalil Miah, a resident of the north-eastern state of Tripura, has been arrested by the NIA team, an official statement said. The NIA had in February declared a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to the arrest of Jalil, who was absconding in the case, in addition to nine others. As per the NIA investigations, a large number of Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas are being trafficked to India every month through the porous stretches of the Indo-Bangladesh border. They are further transported to different parts of the country and provided fake documents and forced into labour, said the statement issued by the probe agency. "In yet another success in its fight against human traffickers operating across the country, the NIA on Tuesday arrested a key conspirator in a case relating to ...

Social media influencer Bobby Kataria arrested over human trafficking

Two men filed complaints with the Gurugram police claiming that Kataria, a social media influencer, had defrauded them of over Rs 4 lakh under the pretext of providing them jobs abroad

NIA conducts multi-state raids, arrests 5 men for human trafficking

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday conducted multi-state raids and arrested five persons allegedly involved in international human trafficking and cyber fraud syndicate. The accused were luring Indian youths to foreign countries on false promises of employment, an official statement said. The youths were being forced to work in fake call centres at Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Laos and Cambodia, among other places, as part of the racket, controlled and operated mainly by foreign nationals, it said. They were coerced into undertaking illegal activities online, such as credit card fraud, investments in cryptocurrency using fake applications, honey trapping, etc., the probe agency said. Manish Hingu of Vadodara, Pahlad Singh of Gopalganj, Nabialam Ray of southwest Delhi, Balwant Kataria of Gurugram and Sartaj Singh of Chandigarh were arrested following a crackdown at 15 locations in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and .

Cambodia job scam: 60 rescued 2 days after stranded Indians stage 'revolt'

Andhra Pradesh police reported on Tuesday that approximately 300 'trafficked' Indians staged a 'revolt' against their handlers in Cambodia on May 20, resulting in many arrests there

300 trafficked Indians 'revolt' in Cambodia, many arrested: Andhra Police

In the wake of a human trafficking racket busted here recently, Andhra Pradesh police on Tuesday said around 300 Indians 'revolted' against their handlers in Cambodia on May 20, leading to most of them being arrested in the foreign country. As many as 150 youth from the port city and its vicinity have been stuck in Cambodia for a year already, where they are being coerced to carry out cyber crime and ponzi scams by Chinese handlers, police said. Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner A Ravi Shankar noted that these trafficked Indians caused large scale riots in Jinbei and Compound, Sihanoukvile in Cambodia, which is allegedly a hub for cyber crime. "Many people called up Visakha city police whatsapp numbers and sent videos. Yesterday (Monday), around 300 Indians 'revolted' in a large scale against their handlers in Cambodia," said Shankar in a release. On May 18, Vizag police arrested Chukka Rajesh, S Kondala Rao and M Jnaneshwar Rao on human trafficking charges for luring youth from In

MEA asks Indians seeking jobs in Cambodia to check background of employers

The external affairs ministry on Thursday cautioned Indian nationals against falling prey to human traffickers promising lucrative job opportunities in Cambodia. In an advisory, the ministry called upon Indians looking at job opportunities in the Southeast Asian country to thoroughly check the background of the prospective employer. "It has come to attention that Indian nationals, lured by fake promises of lucrative job opportunities in Cambodia, are falling into the trap of human traffickers," it said. The ministry said these Indian nationals are "coerced" to undertake online financial scams and other illegal activities. "Indian nationals intending to visit Cambodia for employment are cautioned to do so only through authorised agents. It is also advised that the background of the prospective employer in Cambodia is checked thoroughly," it said. "In the meantime, the ministry of external affairs, through our mission in Phnom Penh, is working closely with the Cambodian authorities

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day: History, importance, and more

In our current world where each individual deserves a life of prosperity, independence from fear, and a quest for joy, the dark truth of human trafficking frequently breaks these beliefs

Punjab police forms SIT to probe grounded Nicaragua-bound flight incident

The case pertains to 303 passengers from India, mostly belonging to Punjab and Gujrat in Nicaragua-bound flight, who were detained by French authorities last week

25 Indians from grounded plane seeking asylum in France freed: Reports

Twenty-five Indian passengers who had stayed behind seeking asylum in France after their flight from the UAE was grounded last week over suspicion of human trafficking before being allowed to take off for India have now been freed, according to local French media reports on Wednesday. These 25 passengers were not on the flight carrying 276 mostly Indian passengers which took off for Mumbai on Monday afternoon after four days of being held at Chlons-Vatry airport near Paris. The 'Le Monde' newspaper quoted prosecutors to say that the local judge had ordered their release on formal grounds, considering that the head of the border police at France's main Charles De Gaulle airport "had not referred the case to him" within the timeframe stipulated by law. "They are therefore free to do as they please, even if they are in an irregular situation on French territory," the Bobigny public prosecutor's office told the French newspaper. The 25 passengers, who had applied for political asylum i