Manual on tackling human trafficking launched
VIJAYAWADA: The director general of police (DGP) RP Thakur launched the Andhra Pradesh Police Training Manual on investigation in human trafficking cases, prepared by an NGO, Prajwala, in coordination with the AP police, at the Police Headquarters in Mangalagiri on Tuesday and said that anti-trafficking would be incorporated as a subject of discussion during the training of the police.
“There is a huge need to incorporate the measures to tackle human trafficking in the police training curriculum. The AP police have been fighting the organised crime of human trafficking and still have many miles to go,” said the DGP.
He also said that the AP police, in collaboration with Prajwala, the NGO working on anti-human trafficking, have released the first-of-its-kind training manual to guide the police in carrying out victim-centric investigations. In this regard, a team of 40 police personnel had been given training on anti-human trafficking measures and they would have the anti-human trafficking manual in hand, for reference, he said.
“This manual will be used to train the police officers, thereby equipping them with the necessary skills to deal with this type of crime. Human trafficking is different from other crimes and it needs special investigative skills and techniques to identify the gangs involved in human trafficking,” said Thakur. Speaking on the occasion the inspector general of police (IGP-Training) N Sanjay said that the new manual would be incorporated in the syllabuses in all the police training centres (PTC) by September this year.
Prajwala founder and Padma Shri awardee Sunita Krishnan said that an estimated 18 million people in India had been trafficked for various purposes of exploitation. She also quoted statistics from national crime data - 2016 and said that as many as 8,132 trafficking cases were registered in the country in a year and 15,379 persons were trafficked, of which 9,034 victims were minors. “These gangs are sexually exploiting the girls and boys and many, especially the boys, are becoming anti-social elements. Police and NGOs should combat these human trafficking gangs and rescue the victims,” said Sunitha Krishnan, hoping that the manual would help the police to get trained in victim-centric investigative skills.