BHUBANESWAR: Special Task Force (STF) of Crime Branch on Wednesday arrested another couple for allegedly trafficking a girl and forcing her into flesh trade here.The agency sleuths apprehended Panchanan Padhi and wife Preeti when they were reportedly handing over the girl to a customer in the city. They also seized a car from their possession.
“Panchanan and Preeti were one of the major brokers of the racket which was run by arrested couple Ibrahim Khan and Ruksar Begum,” STF DIG Jai Narayan Pankaj said. A STF officer said they are verifying whether the victim and Preeti are natives of Bangladesh. The couple were close associates of Ibrahim and Ruksar, he added.
On January 21, STF had arrested Ibrahim and Ruksar of Danagohiri and rescued six women from Old Town area here. Later, they had rescued another woman, who was forced into the trade by Ibrahim and his wife, on January 31. Of the eight victims rescued so far, about six are from Bangladesh while one is a native of Sonagachi in Kolkata, a STF officer said.