The Organised Crime Wing (OCW) of the Crime Branch has received information about a sex racket which had trafficked about 120 girls to Dubai from India and Sri Lanka in the last five years. The information was obtained with the arrest of key accused Santha on Monday from Punalur who was involved in trafficking a girl to Dubai using fake passport through the Nedumbassery Airport a few weeks ago.
DySP P M Varghese said that Santha was arrested from her house in Punalur. “Santha is an agent and a past victim of the racket. She operated for Leena of Wadakkancherry and a person named Basheer from Kodungallur . The investigation team believes that Basheer is not the original name and has been adopted as an alias for operating in Dubai. Santha became an agent after returning from Dubai four years ago. The racket has big network in India and Sri Lanka, with several agents working in different parts of the country,” Varghese said.
Information has been received about 120 girls who were trafficked from various parts of India and Sri Lanka to Dubai. “The racket used to target girls from economically weak backgrounds who were then taken to Dubai in the guise of housemaids. We have given a request from the Home Department seeking the assistance of the Interpol for nabbing Leena and Basheer,” he said. The incident came to notice when the Immigration Department at Mumbai had found a girl, native of Kazhakkuttam, returning from Dubai using a fake passport a few months ago.