This story is from March 21, 2017

Traffic kingpin brought to West Bengal

Almost four months after trafficking kingpin Afaq Hussain (50) was arrested by the Delhi police crime branch and charged under MCOCA Act, the Kultoli police has finally brought him to the state for questioning.
Traffic kingpin brought to West Bengal
Representative image
KOLKATA: Almost four months after trafficking kingpin Afaq Hussain (50) was arrested by the Delhi police crime branch and charged under MCOCA Act, the Kultoli police has finally brought him to the state for questioning. Owner of three of the biggest brothels of the infamous G B Road in Delhi, he, along with his wife Saira Banu, are suspected to have amassed property worth almost Rs 246 crore and 18 properties across three metro cities in the last 17 years by trafficking girls.
Sources claimed they targeted “aspiring” girls from poor families from underdeveloped areas like the Sunderbans and forced them into prostitution.
Almost 40% of about 5000 girls they trafficked are suspected to be hailing from South 24 Parganas. “We want to crush his network here,” said an IG level officer at Bhawani Bhavan.
Besides South 24 Parganas, their syndicate is suspected to have been involved in the trafficking of girls from Nepal and remote areas of Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka, Assam and Andhra Pradesh, among other states. Hussain is believed to have recruited several agents in the Kultoli-Basanti areas and paid them 15% of the “cost of one girl”. Police allegedly found four luxury cars in the possession of the accused. The couple also allegedly owned several flats and houses in Delhi and Bengaluru.
It was in this backdrop that Child Protection Officials (CPOs) from Haryana, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Chattisgarh and Uttrakhand attended a four-day workshop — held at Diamond Harbour — to understand the dynamics of human trafficking.
“Out of 10 trafficked women from Bengal, six hail from the Diamond Harbour-Kultoli belt. Officials from north India had no clue about the social status of these girls,” said Rishi Kant of NGO Shakti Vahini.
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