New Delhi: India's anti-terror organization, National Investigation Agency, suspects that victims of human trafficking might be involved in anti-national activities. The situation has become more serious following the involvement of people from across the border in this shady trade of human trafficking. "Human trafficking is a challenge for us. It has several other dimensions where the victims might be involved in anti-national activities," said a senior official from NIA to ETV Bharat in New Delhi.
The NIA has recently filed charge sheet against 13 Bangladeshi nationals for their involvement in trafficking women and children from the neighbouring country after illegally crossing over to India. "The modus operandi of the human traffickers is that they lure women from Bangladesh and trafficking them to India with the promise of jobs," the official said. "We are exploring the option of their involvement in anti-national activities," the official said.
Following an amendment in the Parliament, the NIA has been entrusted to investigate offenses related to human trafficking, counterfeit currency, manufacture or sale of prohibited arms, cyber terrorism and offenses under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908. The NIA suspects that forces inimical to India's security might involve the human traffickers too for creating turmoil in different parts of the country.
"Accordingly, we keep informing the intelligence agencies about such nefarious activities," the official said.
Echoing the same view, Rishi Kant, spokesperson of Shakti Bahini (an NGO) said that the main intention of the human traffickers is to get their victims to indulge in the flesh trade, "but they may utilise them in other activities also."
"It's a good move that NIA has started investigating such human trafficking cases having international ramifications...and the involvement of the victims of human trafficking is a matter of investigation," said Rishi Kant.
The union home ministry has already admitted in the Parliament that illegal infiltrators entering India from Bangladesh have been found involved in anti-national activities. Apart from human trafficking cases from across the border, such incidents are continuing unabated inside India also.
"Recently, we have found that people especially from West Bengal, Jharkhand and others become victims of human trafficking due to poverty and especially at a time when Covid19 hit the lifeline of people, " said Ravi Kant. As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data 38,503 cases of human trafficking in India took place between 2011 and 2019.
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