The Bureau of Investigation wrote to the Protector General for Immigrants to campaign “to create awareness about the practices and modus operandi adopted by unauthorized agents to recruit labor from India”.
Amidst a series of incidents of trafficking in women returning home (Punjab) in the recent past after they were rescued from Oman, Punjab Police suspects that cryptocurrency is being used to evade financial trail.
The head of the Punjab Bureau of Investigation has now written to the head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the cases of returnees from Oman to further investigate whether cryptocurrency was used in international transactions while illegally trafficking women abroad.
The Bureau of Investigation wrote to the Protector General for Immigrants to campaign “to create awareness about the practices and modus operandi adopted by unauthorized agents to recruit labor from India”.
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It is widely alleged that Punjabi women “trafficked” to Oman were driven into slavery.
The Punjab Police SIT was formed last month after several women in Gulf countries (Dubai in the UAE, Muscat in Oman, etc.) were lured with the false promise of a job and good money as they were sold into slavery (to work as a domestic servant in Oman without pay).
A preliminary investigation by SIT revealed that of the 23 cases analyzed in recent months, five women had not pressed for any case to be registered against the travel agents involved. In the remaining 18 complaints, FIRs have been registered. The women complainants largely said they were “sold out” and forced to work as “domestic servants” in Oman without pay and subjected to inhumane treatment.
The investigation confirms that among the victims were those who returned using the “white passport”, which is one of the strongest passports issued by India, which is essentially diplomatic in nature and allows preferential treatment for its holder, who is generally a government official.
In the 18 FIRs, five were recorded in Ferozepur district, four in Hoshiarpur district, two each in Ludhiana (rural), Tarn Taran and Jalandhar (rural), and one each in Bathinda, Nawanshahr and Muga.
Seven suspects have been arrested in these cases. Five of these women who returned from abroad did not want any action.
They include two from Jalandhar (rural) and one each from Ferozepur, Muga and Ludhiana (rural) police districts. Punjab Police has started the process of issuing Notice of Control (LOC) in at least four cases against the accused, including the women allegedly involved in this human trafficking.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Punjab ADGP Investigation Bureau Chief Lakshmi Kant Yadav said, “Anti-trafficking units are being strengthened to put in place a digital monitoring system in Punjab to curb the activities of organized (human) traffickers with ulterior motives.” ADGP added that the Punjab Police were focusing on cryptanalysts in coordination with the Protector of Migrants.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
First published in: 12-06-2023 at 02:28 IST
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