Assam: Six, Including BJP Leader, in Hojai Arrested For Child Trafficking

HOJAI: Assam Police busted a child trafficking ring in Assam’s Hojai on Wednesday when a total of six people, which also includes a young woman, were apprehended by the police from Morajhar.

Those arrested on the child trafficking charges were identified by police as Bilal Uddin, Afzal Uddin, Nasir Hussain, Abdul Karim, Ajmal Hussain, as well as the prime suspect in the case Parbina Begum. Among those arrested was Abdul Karim, who is said to be a regional Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader.

All of the accused were produced before the district court in Hojai’s Sankardev Nagar. After their arraignment, they were taken to jail. While the prime accused in the case Parbina Begum and her accomplice brother Ajmal Hussain were sent for further questioning to two days of police custody, the remaining four were remanded to judicial custody.

According to available information, the notorious gang of child traffickers lured a minor girl in Morajhar, under the Debasthan Police Station, to Delhi under false pretenses of securing her a job and later sold her off to a prostitution racket in the city.

The victim however managed to escape from their clutches and reached Dehradun. The police there then took the help of a child helpline number and handed her over to the women’s shelter One Step Centre.

It was from there that the family of the victim managed to bring her back to Hojai on July 4, with the help of the district unit of All Assam Minority Students' Union (AAMSU).

The victim was then produced in the Debasthan Police Station, where the police recorded her statement as well as that of the family members and registered a case numbered 162/23, against the accused persons under several sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and launched an investigation into the case.

Meanwhile, the Hojai district AAMSU has alleged that several children are still in the clutches of the gang, even as they are undergoing questioning to find the whereabouts of these alleged victims.

On the other hand, the family members of the rescued minor girl are alleging that they are receiving threats from the gang about their complaint to the police implicating them in the case.

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