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Aurangabad: Police accused of ignoring human trafficking racket

Aurangabad: Family members of two city women — cousins who have been missing for the past couple of months — have claimed that they (the women) have fallen victim to a human trafficking racket and have been sold twice. Currently, the two women are “in possession” of men in Makla village in Ujjain, MP, the family claimed.



The women were apparently lured with the promise of jobs at a city-based super speciality hospital.

In a written complaint to police commissioner Chiranjeev Prasad, they accused the Jawahar Nagar police of neither registering an offence nor taking action against the accused, who have sought money to release the women. The family is in possession of audio call recordings, in which the accused men sought the money that was spent on “purchasing” these women.

The family members have threatened to commit mass suicide if action is not initiated against the guilty policemen and if the victims are not rescued.

Lured by job offers

One of the missing women is a mother-of-two from Nagsen Nagar and the other is a 21-year-old resident of Indra Nagar. They are cousins.

In a complaint, the first woman’s mother said that on June 25, a woman on criminal record offered jobs to the two victims. The ‘suspect’ woman asked the victims to get their Aadhaar cards and identity proofs. Later, this woman and her son picked up the two cousins from the Hanuman Nagar area. The cousins have been missing since then and their phones also have been switched off.

When contacted, the suspect woman told the family that she was out of town. Days later, the family was told by the locals that the suspect woman is on record for pushing women into flesh trade. The family then reached out to the Jawahar Nagar police, which, on July 11, registered a missing complaint.

No offence registered

When nothing happened, the victims’ relatives reached out to the Jawahar Nagar inspector. The suspect woman was summoned. She then revealed the name of a local contractor to whom he has sold the two women.

A woman assistant inspector contacted the contractor. Speaking over the phone, he promised to bring the two victims back. When he did not return, the police pulled up the contractor. He then said the women were at Makla. However, the police did not register an offence.

The family contacted DCP headquarter Meena Makwana, and on her directive, a team of three policemen reached Makla. However, the women were found to be married off to local men.

Cash demand

The men refused to let the women go unless they were paid Rs 80,000 each — the price the men had paid to buy the women. The PSI then allegedly took signatures of the two victims on blank papers and on reaching Aurangabad , mentioned on the blank papers that the women had married men of their own volition and they were facing threats to their lives from immediate family members.

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The family members of two women — who are suspected to have been trafficked — have alleged that the police manipulated the victims’ statements and put on record that they (the women) had gone to Ujjain and married two men voluntarily.

Police commissioner Chiranjeev Prasad said a probe would be conducted and action would be initiated against any cop found guilty. Prasad added, “Our special team has reached Ujjain and the process of rescuing the women is underway. The team will present the victims before a magistrate and record their statements in court, before bringing them back.”

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