Eight arrested for trafficking in women

Reported by Simanchal Pattnaik
Phulbani, Jan 31:

Eight persons including four women were arrested from the Sagadia Sahi here today for their involvement in a human trafficking racket, police sources said.

All the four women belong to Kandhamal district and have been accused of being part of the racket.

The matter came to light after the father of a young girl who was about to be trapped by the racketeers complained to the police.

According to the town police, four middlemen from Sagar district in Madhya Pradesh have been visiting Phulbani regularly to lure young unmarried women from poor families with gold ornaments, cash and the promise of a happy married life and then selling them to ‘customers’ in Chhatisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

The five traffickers have been identified as Pravat Singh, Dhiman Singh, Badri Prasad, Sambhu Ahirwal and his Odia wife. Three women from Sagadia Sahi here have also been held on charges of assisting the traffickers, police said.
The IIC of the town police station Umakant Pradhan told OST that a case has been registered against the accused under sections 355, 366(a), 370(2), 511 of the IPC.

“The racket has been active here for a year or so but all the details of the case would be known after the accused persons are interrogated,”, Pradhan said.