Delhi: GB Road's kotha queen, husband held

NEW DELHI: Between husband and wife, they have had an almost unchecked run as trafficking kingpins in Delhi's Garstin Bastion (GB) Road since 1999, but the law might have finally caught up with Saira Begum and Aafaq Hussain.
Delhi Police has arrested the couple and six of their aides and booked them under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.Saira, 45, and Hussain, 50, ran a “syndicate“ that is suspected to have trafficked more than 5,000 girls from Nepal and remote areas of West Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka, Assam, Andhra and other states. They had reportedly raked in around Rs 100 crore till date, “buying“ girls for Rs 50,000 and selling them for up to Rs 2 lakh. The younger the girl, the higher the price they commanded, police said. Once brought to the kothas of GB Road, the girls were often confined in almirahs and tunnels and forced to entertain clients in small cubicles. Joint commissioner (crime) Ravindra Yadav confirmed the arrests but refused to divulge details. “The arrests had been made under sections 3 and 4 of MCOCA. We will share all details when the operation is over,“ he said.

Besides Hussain and Begum, Hussain's driver Ramesh and “chief manager“ Vasu were nabbed. The four others arrested are Samshad, Shilpi, Mumtaz and Puja Thapa. All the accused have been sent to judicial custody till September 2. Sources said the crackdown was on and more arrests were likely in the coming days. Besides Hussain's driver and chief manager, the four others arrested were identified as “nayikas“ or handlers of the girls “Saira Begum controlled the racket which was extremely organised and managed by the nayikas, paid managers, their assistants and traffickers. The unchecked inter-state movement of girls is not possible without an active organised crime syndicate behind it,“ a police officer said. Sources said the couple first started operations from one kotha in G B Road but now own at least four others, besides other benami properties and shops, police said.
Saira has been arrested in seven cases since 1990 and Aafaq in three cases. In one case registered in 2001, Saira was convicted for seven years but returned to the trade soon after.
In the last 10 years, two chargesheets have been filed against the couple. In March this year, the couple was charged in two FIRs registered under sections of rape, trafficking, abduction and criminal conspiracy among other charges. Police said they had enough evidence, including statements from trafficked girls, to nail the couple.
Every year, 60,000 Nepalese girls are brought into India for prostitution, according to data prepared by different NGOs.
G B Road in the capital alone attracts and harbours a majority of them due to the free run they are allowed to have here.