The Hindu : New Delhi News : Police may seek Interpol help in nabbing human traffickers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Police may seek Interpol help in nabbing human traffickers

By Devesh K. Pandey

NEW DELHI, MARCH 22. The Delhi police are planning to approach Interpol to track down and arrest two alleged human traffickers operating from outside the country, who have been found involved in a manpower racket unearthed by the Indira Gandhi International Airport police earlier this month. Five people have been arrested in the case so far.

Investigations into a manpower racket allegedly being run by Kuldeep Singh in the garb of Indian Pacific Employment Agency, which had its office in the Ambadeep Building at Connaught Place, led to the identification of two alleged international human traffickers -- Watson and Mohammad Abdul Sheikh. The police found that the Nigerian national, Watson, who operates from Lagos, trafficked people sent by Kuldeep to the United States on the pretext of recruiting them in Alaskan oil companies.

The police learnt that Kuldeep also had links with Abdul Sheikh, a human trafficker operating from Baku in Azerbaijan who is learnt to have shifted his base to Dubai not long ago. Abdul Sheikh ran a manpower agency named Euro International -- certified by the Protectorate General of Immigrants -- with its branches in Dubai and Kolkata. It is alleged that his brother, Anwar, was taking care of the business in Kolkata. Suspecting that Watson and Abdul Sheikh are involved in huge number of human trafficking cases, the police are exploring the possibility of tracking them down with the help of Interpol.

Meanwhile, another interesting aspect of human trafficking has come to light in a recent case of deportation of people from Gujarat who were caught while trying to illegally enter the United States through Canada.

From their questioning, the police found that people from different parts of Gujarat venture out on adventurous trips to "discover" safer routes to the United States. After a group manages to reach their destination via the newly found route, they inform their relatives back in Gujarat, which becomes a cause for big celebrations in the village among their community. The villagers distribute sweets and throw parties to celebrate the successful adventure.

Interestingly, the human trafficking agents operating from Gujarat make arrangements for the adventurous journey on "finance" and charge commissions only when their clients make it to their destination. The latest route to the United States taken by such groups has been found to be via Singapore, Malaysia/Indonesia and Vietnam.

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