ADILABAD: Kumurambheem Asifabad police on Friday arrested two more accused in connection with the human trafficking case, taking the number of arrested individuals to eight, including Kameri Haridas, a police constable.
The arrested accused have been identified as Basher Surekha, a native of Dabla village in Mandasaur district of Madhya Pradesh and Ganshyam Prajapathi from Boath who had been absconding.
According to police, the gang targeted poor and unsuspecting families in the district. After identifying potential victims, the traffickers would approach the families, offering marriage proposals to men from Madhya Pradesh, claiming they were financially well-off and would provide a secure future. Trusting these assurances, the families would consent.
Once the agreement was reached, the gang took the women to Madhya Pradesh, where they were forced into agricultural labour and other work for six months to a year. Later, some victims were reportedly sold to brothels.
Police said that around 12 years ago, a woman from Dum village was allegedly trafficked to Madhya Pradesh by the same gang. Her family has not received any information about her since.
In a separate case registered at Asifabad police station, another woman was reportedly sold to a brothel for Rs 1.10 lakh. She managed to escape and return to her native village, where she lodged a police complaint.
Police said that one of the victims was traced a year later after her family identified her through Aadhaar card records. She was eventually brought back to Vadgondi village in Asifabad mandal.
Kumurambheem Asifabad SP Kanthi Lal Patil said that cases have been registered against ten persons in total. Eight of them have been arrested so far, while Bashar Ramesh Goud of Dabla village in Mandasaur district, Madhya Pradesh and Soni Jagadesh of Javari, Madhya Pradesh remain absconding. Efforts are on to apprehend them.
The police also stated that the gang sold another woman, belonging to a vulnerable caste, for Rs 1.30 lakh. She was allegedly forced into immoral activities. During the ongoing investigation, a second case was registered in connection with these activities.
Police constable Kameri Haridas has also been named in the two cases filed at Asifabad police station.