Bhubaneswar (Odisha):At least 41 middlemen have been arrested for allegedly trafficking labourers to other states during a special drive launched by police in Odisha's Balangir and Nuapada districts.
Acting on a tip-off, special police teams conducted simultaneous raids on several locations in the two west Odisha districts on Saturday and picked up 41 agents indulging in illegal human trafficking, a police officer said.
While 25 middlemen were arrested and nine cases registered in Balangir district, 16 agents were taken into custody and six cases slapped in Nuapada in connection with illegal trafficking of labourers, he said.
The agents were nabbed when they were engaged in an exercise to finalise deals with several labourers who had gathered at these places.
The accused persons were engaged in trafficking labourers illegally to different states - Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka - he said adding that the middlemen will be interrogated thoroughly to obtain details of their modus operandi.