On Wednesday, 16th August, 2023 the Bombay High Court intervened in to Sangili police’s investigation into a cross-border organized crime syndicate; trafficking young girls from Bangladesh and forcing them into prostitution in Maharashtra’s Sangili district with Indian birth certificates, forged Aadhar cards and passports; saying that if the police is not interested in investigating the matter, then we shall transfer the case to the Criminal Bureau of India (CBI). The division bench consisting of Justices AS Gadkari and SG Dige agreed with aforesaid contention and further said that they were not interested in just one instance of raid but the syndicate that continues to traffic girls inducting them as Indian citizens.
Few lines of the official statement read as follows:
“What about those people who facilitated this? The police have not investigated who brought the victim girls from Bangladesh to India and made them settle in Maharashtra as Indian citizens. If you are not interested, we will transfer the matter to the CBI…”
The bench was seized with a petition filed by an anti-trafficking NGO, Freedom Firm, in October 2022 regarding the lax investigation and low percentage of involvement of police officers from Vishram Baug Police station in a trafficking racket busted in 2022. After the High Court took cognizance of the matter, the Superintendent of Police (SP) ordered the Addl SP, IPS Anchal Dallal, to conduct an enquiry. A report submitted by her on January 29, 2023 indicted officers of the police station including the original investigating officer PI Kalapa Pujari and head constable Swapnil Koli. Her enquiry found that Koli had sexually and monetarily exploited one of the trafficked victims. After this a separate crime was registered. Koli was booked under Sections 376(2)(n), 376(c)(b) & 384 of the IPC and Sections 4, 5(A)(I) & 6 of the POCSO, arrested in February and released on bail in May 2023.
On Thursday, the Court already utilized the affidavit of the Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Sangili Division, who took over the investigation from Pujari but the bench was dissatisfied with this change. The Court asked the prosecution if anyone was investigated or arrested from the UIDAI regarding the forged Aadhaar cards as the victims clearly mentioned that their identity documents were fake. According to the affidavit the police has only sought details from the UIDAI about the Aadhaar cards which were seized last year and no further investigation had taken place.
Public Prosecutor Aruna Pai representing the police officers insisted that there was progress in the investigation, adding that the police were interested in pursuing the matter. Two victims’ statements were not initially included by the Vishram Baug police in their charge sheet on the grounds that the victims were tutored. It was only after the enquiry report reconfirmed that the girls were in fact exploited and they identified one of their perpetrators through photographs, Koli was arrested. However, Advocate Wesley Menezes appearing along with Advocates Steven Anthony and Waqar Pathan for the NGO, submitted a fresh affidavit by Freedom Firm on Thursday. He submitted that while the accused who was running the brothel – Sathi Shaikh alias Rony Akhdar – was arrested, the owner of the premises Ramesh Madrasa was merely cited as a witness in all the charge sheets so far. Moreover, none of the investigating officers have tried to shut down the case under section 18 of the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act. The NGO’s affidavit points out that the IO has not even been able to get the full names of wanted accused Kalu and Rupa. An analysis of Call Detail Records to and from the accused pimp are imperative. Moreover, the initial IO had not even included the forged documents in the first charge sheet.
The police have further not moved for the victim girls to receive compensation under the Manodhairya Victim Compensation Scheme, it states. Finally, it is said that the Bombay Court did not have the option but to involve themselves in this human trafficking case and accordingly ask for the complete follow-up of the ongoing investigation and still it is not getting the statisfactory actions. If the progress is happening at this pace then it seems that the best option the high court could opt for is to handover the case to CBI
Name: Divya Salgaonkar, 3rd Year BLS LLB, College Name: VES College of Law, Mumbai , intern under legal vidhiya
Plagiarism Report
0 Comments