KOCHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the human trafficking case from Nedumbassery and Thiruvananthapuram, has arraigned four persons as accused in the case. The CBI filed a report in this regard at the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on Friday.
The four persons arraigned as accused are M Ramesh of Chelambra, Malappuram; A P Ramesh of Eriyad, Kodungallur; T A Rafeeq of Azhikode and Varghese Rafael of Chembakkara, Maradu. Now, there are 11 accused persons in the case. The report was filed by CBI inspector V S Uma.
According to CBI officials, based on the statements of the victims who were taken to brothels in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the agency has decided to include the four persons as accused. During the investigation, it was found that Rafeeq was the driver of Lissy Sojan, who was running a brothel in Ajman. Rafeeq used to collect money from the customers visiting the brothel on behalf of Lissy. Varghese Rafael was the driver of Lissy in Dubai. He allegedly forged documents for transporting women to brothels in the UAE from India. The CBI has traced several victims from India, who were transported to Dubai and employed as sex workers. The victims have identified all the accused persons.
Manesh was security guard at the brothel run by Lissy. He was arrested in Ajman during a raid conducted at the brothel a few months ago. He was later deported to India. Ramesh was working for Lissy in Kerala. He allegedly collected money from relatives of the victims for releasing them from the brothels.
The CBI case is that a woman from Kizhakuttam was taken to Dubai in 2012 for household work, offering a monthly salary of Rs 25,000. She was transported using a fake passport, and was sent to a brothel in Dubai. She was tortured when she refused to enter into the prostitution. Following repeated requests from the victim’s family members, Lissy sent the woman back to India. However, she was booked by officials at immigration wing of the Mumbai airport. Later, the case was transferred to the Kerala Police. Initially, the case was investigated by the Crime Branch, which arrested six persons, including the policemen who helped Lissy to take the victims to Dubai from the Nedumbassery airport. The case was handed over to CBI last year.