Trafficking racket from Nepal to Gulf unearthed in Indirapuram flats

GHAZIABAD: An international human trafficking network has come to the fore with the rescue of 37 women of Nepalese origin from various flats in Indirapuram over the past 24 hours. Police said these women had been brought from Nepal and were to be transported to various Gulf countries to work as domestic helps.
On Monday evening, 28 women had been rescued from two different flats in Srijan Vihar society of Nyay Khand 2.This raid had been conducted on a tip-off by two Nepalese women who had been sent to Delhi by their alleged traffickers. On Tuesday morning, police raided another flat in Gyan Khand III and rescued seven more Nepalese women.
Two men who also had been trafficked from Nepal along with the seven women were also rescued from the Gyan Khand flat. As many as 17 passports issued by the Nepal government were found inside the flat.
Many of them had been stamped with visas of different foreign countries.
“The women had been promised housekeeping jobs in the Gulf with the lure of additional income if they entered the flesh trade. The network operated through a chain of three different people of Nepalese origin. They are Anil Nepali, who is based in Dubai, Ganesh, who is in Nepal, and Kedarnath, who operated out of Delhi and Ghaziabad. Anil Nepali would send demands for women to Ganesh, who in turn would arrange the numbers and send them to India by bus along with Kedarnath. The latter would accommodate the women in flats in Indirapuram as well as in Vasant Kunj in Delhi till all documentation work would get complete. We have arrested Kedarnath along with two accomplices from Indirapuram,” Ghaziabad SSP Vaibhav Krishna said.
Kedarnath’s accomplices have been identified as Romeo Joshi and Gyanendra Giri. These two men allegedly helped Kedarnath in various work relating to the maintenance of the women during their stay in Indirapuram. Kedarnath has apparently told police he was being paid Rs 1,000 for each trafficked woman.
Police are investigating the sources from which Anil Nepali received the demands for women. “India was being used as a stopover during the transit because laws in Nepal do not allow travel to any country for jobs as domestic helps. The women were sent on tourist visas, which were later extended. There were several women among those rescued who had already worked in countries such as Iraq, Lebanon and Kuwait. They had smartphones with basic apps installed in them and were in regular touch with their clients. One of the women rescued on Monday had a flight that night. A man rescued on Tuesday from the Gyan Khand flat was slated to fly to Portugal soon. The owners of these flats from where the women were rescued are also being questioned for their possible role in the trafficking racket,” said Krishna.
The women have told police they were being kept locked in the apartments. They were flown to the Gulf countries one by one, as and when they were demanded, and their documentation work got complete. Two separate FIRs have been registered at Indirapuram police station under sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 370 (trafficking), 371 (dealing in slaves) of the IPC apart from relevant sections of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 and Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.