Berhampur: Gajapati police have busted an interstate human trafficking racket and arrested two of its members, including a 56-year-old woman from Hyderabad. A 20-year-old woman and six girls, aged between 15 and 17 years, have been rescued.The survivors from different villages in Gajapati district were united with their parents on Wednesday following all legal procedures, said police.The subdivisional police officer (SDPO) of R Udayagiri, Rakesh Sahoo, said accused Iswar Kusulia, 30, of Gumukudi in Rayagada district, and the woman, Chandra, alias Sarita Jain, alias Saritha Lunawat were arrested in Hyderabad on June 28 with the help of the local cops.They were brought to Odisha on a transit remand on June 29 and produced in the court of the judicial magistrate first class on June 30, when they were remanded to 14 days’ judicial custody.“We have started an investigation to identify the other members of the trafficking network and their criminal antecedents. We are also trying to rescue other victims, if any,” said the SDPO.Police said Kusulia had lured the adolescent tribal girls of Gajapati district by assuring them good jobs and decent accommodation. He, however, handed over the girls to the woman in Hyderabad for Rs 35,000 per girl. The woman allegedly engaged them in illegal activities and physically tortured them.The fact came to light when one of the survivors managed to contact her family over the phone, and disclosed her ordeal to her parents on June 24, said police.“We registered a case after the brother of one of the survivors lodged an FIR alleging she went missing on June 21. On June 24, however, she called her parents over the phone, saying she was in a miserable condition in Hyderabad, said police officer.She reportedly told them Kusulia had contacted her friend and her, and called them to Birikote on April 21, when he took them on his motorcycle to his residence at Gumukudi and then to Hyderabad.Sahoo said a Gajapati police team rushed to the Telangana capital and conducted raids on the residence of the woman with the help of their Hyderabad counterpart.The SDPO appealed to the people to remain vigilant against false employment promises and immediately report any suspicious activity to the nearest police station or the Dial-112 team.
