The National Investigation Agency (NIA) carried out searches in Bengaluru in premises linked to a person suspected to be involved in making forged identity proof documents for Bangladeshi traffickers, the agency said on August 8. The NIA raided two locations on August 7 in connection with a human trafficking case involving Bangladeshi nationals. "During the searches various incriminating documents, six digital devices including hard disks and mobile phones used for making the forged documents were seized," the investigation agency said in a statement.
The case was registered in June at the Ramamurthy Nagar police station in the city against 13 accused in connection with a raid conducted by the Karnataka police at a rented house from where seven Bangladeshi women and a child were rescued from the custody of human traffickers, an official of the NIA said. The women were trafficked from Bangladesh to India by the accused on the pretext of providing them jobs but were forced into sex work instead.
According to a report in The Hindu, the Ramamurthy Nagar police had unearthed the racket while investigating a case of torture and gangrape of a Bangladeshi woman in Bengaluru. The report stated that the police had also recovered 46 sets of documents, including Aadhaar cards, for the women and the child during the raid conducted earlier. Reportedly, the police had arrested four persons along with the prime accused in the case. The arrest of the prime accused aided them in unearthing the racket. The women were allegedly brought to India by the gang the accused was a part of, the report stated.
The NIA re-registered the case under Sections 370 (Human Trafficking) and 343 (Wrongful Confinement) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides relevant sections of the Foreigners Act and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act. Further investigation in the case is underway, the official said.