Human-trafficking syndicate busted

New Delhi: The Delhi Police has busted an interstate human-trafficking syndicate allegedly involved in luring vulnerable women and girls through social media on the pretext of getting them lucrative jobs at spa centres and rescued 10 victims from Delhi, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, an officer said on Wednesday. The investigation began after a 15-year-old girl went missing from Dakshin Puri on May 9.

A case was registered at the Ambedkar Nagar police station following a complaint from her mother. “During the probe, a team found that the girl was allegedly contacted through social media and lured with promises of a well-paying job and better lifestyle, before being taken out of Delhi,” the senior police officer said. Technical surveillance and an analysis of digital evidence revealed that the girl was taken to Mundra in Gujarat.

The team travelled there in a private vehicle and with the local police’s assistance, rescued her from a spa operating from a hotel in

Mundra in Kutch. The spa owner, Damani Sushil Haresh alias Sushil (31), and receptionist Lakshay (20) were apprehended, along with two juveniles. Further investigation led police to Ballia in Uttar Pradesh, where seven girls were rescued from a spa centre.

Two alleged operators, Monu Sharma and Sanjeev Maurya, were arrested.

Two girls were subsequently rescued from a premises

in Delhi’s Ganesh Nagar and a 27-year-old woman allegedly operating the premises was arrested.