On Wednesday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) searched ten states in connection with possible cases of human trafficking. The states that the NIA is searching in these cases include Tripura, Assam, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Haryana, Puducherry, Rajasthan, and Jammu and Kashmir. The raids are underway at the residential premises and other locations of suspects linked to these cases in close coordination with state police forces. Based on targeted information against suspects connected to the crime, the NIA’s several teams began conducting raids in the ten states early on Tuesday.
As per NIA sources, over four dozen locations are being searched by the NIA sleuths in these 10 states to unearth the racket of human traffickers having international links.
A team of the NIA from Bengaluru last month arrested an absconding accused from Tamil Nadu in a Sri Lankan human trafficking case. The accused, identified as Imran Khan, along with other co-accused, trafficked Sri Lankan nationals to various locations in Bengaluru and Mangaluru.
The federal agency had taken over the case from local police given its international dimensions. The NIA had filed a preliminary charge sheet against five Indian accused in this case- Dhinakaran alias Ayya, Kasi Viswanathan, Rasool, Satham Ushen, and Abdul Muheetu, in October 2021. By October end of this year, a total of 13 suspects were arraigned in the case by the NIA.