Six accused convicted of human trafficking were sentenced to life imprisonment for forcing Bangladeshi girls into prostitution. They lured victims with fake job promises, trafficking them from Bangladesh to India, according to NIA investigations.
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court at Hyderabad on Wednesday convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment all the six accused in a 2019 human trafficking case involving Bangladeshi girls, who were forced into prostitution after being smuggled into India.
The accused, identified as Mohd. Yousuf Khan, his wife Smt. Bithi Begum, Sojib, Ruhul Amin Dhali, Mohammed Abdul Salam @ Kounla Justin and Sheela Justin @ Shiuli Khatun, have been found guilty under various sections of IPC and Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act, 1986. Notably, of the six accused, Dhali was arrested from West Bengal while the others were nabbed from Telangana between 2019 and 2020.
The special court, in its orders passed on 6th November 2024, sentenced all the six accused to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs. 24,000. In the case of default of payment, the accused will face an additional 18 months of simple imprisonment.
NIA investigations had revealed that the accused had lured Bangladeshi girls with the promise of lucrative jobs and decent pay, and trafficked them from Bangladesh into India, where they were forced into prostitution.
Telangana police had registered the original case at Chatrinaka police station after rescuing five girls from a house in Kandikal Gate area of Uppuguda, Hyderabad, during an operation in August 2019. NIA took over the probe and re-registered the case on 17th September 2019. The agency had filed a chargesheet against four of the accused on 10th March 2020, followed by a supplementary chargesheet against the remaining two in August 2020.