6 others were trafficked, rescued victim tells cops

LUCKNOW: A 38-year-old woman who had escaped from the clutches of human traffickers recently told police on Friday that seven women were lured by the gang from

Tripura

on the pretext of jobs in the Middle East. However, barring her, six disembarked from the train carrying them to Lucknow at Patna railway station.

After reaching Lucknow,

Jalpa

(name changed) managed to escape and informed the police.

Thereafter, Tripura-based

Amna Begum

was arrested in Lucknow on charges of human

trafficking

and sent to jail on April 11.

Two of Amna’s aides are still on the run. In her statement to the police, Jalpa said Amna belongs to her village in Dhalai district of Tripura and was working in the Middle East for the past five years. She came back in December and promised her a job for Rs 20,000 in Dubai. “We boarded a train to Lucknow on January 5,” she told police after her rescue. She could not remember the name of the station from where their journey began.

“I found six more women, aged 16-36, travelling with us along with three of Amna’s aides. We were not allowed to interact with each other. The six women along with two aides got down at Patna and I along with Amna and an aide came to Lucknow on January 7,” she told police.

“In Lucknow, I was locked in a hotel room in Charbagh. I was served food twice daily, but not allowed to venture out or call my family. I was taken to hospital several times for check-up. On April 9, I managed to escape during a visit to government hospital and reached Charbagh railway station where I contacted Government Railway Police. The GRP took me to a women and child welfare society which took me to the police,” she said.

Investigating officer Geeta Singh said, “Jalpa has been sent to her home in Tripura along with a police team. We are searching for two other accused, on whose name the room of the hotel in which Jalpa stayed was booked. A team has also got in touch with GRP in Patna to know about the other six women.”

Police also claimed that investigations so far have established that Lucknow has emerged as the main transit point for traffickers.