NIA Court in Hyderabad Hands Life Terms to Nine in 2019 Trafficking Case

A National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Hyderabad has sentenced nine people to life imprisonment in a human trafficking case dating back to 2019, officials said on Friday. Eight of the convicts are Bangladeshi nationals, while one is an Indian citizen.

The court delivered the order on Thursday and also imposed a fine of ₹1.37 lakh on the convicts. Those who fail to pay will face an additional three months of simple imprisonment.

The case concerns the trafficking of Bangladeshi women into India, who were allegedly lured with promises of well-paid work and decent wages before being pushed into prostitution.

Hyderabad Police registered the original case after an operation in September 2019. During that action, three Bangladeshi women were rescued from a brothel operating in Jalpally village, while a fourth was rescued from a house in Mahimood Colony, Balapur, in Hyderabad.

The NIA took over the probe and re-registered the case on October 12, 2019. Investigators arrested the accused from various locations across West Bengal and Telangana during 2019 and 2020.

The convicts have been identified as Ruhul Amin Dhali, Mohd Yousuf Khan alias Md Imran, Bithi Begum alias Khadija Shaik, Imamul Ghazi alias Mohd Rana Hussain, Mohammed Al Mamun, Sojib Shaik, Suresh Kumar Das alias Sagor, Mohd Abdulla Munshi alias Abdul Sarkar, and Mohd Ayub Shaik.

They were prosecuted under provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Foreigners Act, 1946, and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.