CBI unearths major human trafficking racket - TOI 08 May 08

CBI unearths major human trafficking racket
100 Women From Punjab Sent To Europe On Fake Passports
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: A well-organised human trafficking racket, which involved sending as many as 100 women to London, Paris and Amsterdam between 2002 and 2005, has beeen unearthed by the CBI in Delhi. All the women had to go to these cities to join their husbands who despite their efforts could not bring their wives over to these foreign destinations through legal channels. All the women — trafficked to Europe on forged papers — were from different parts of Punjab. During its probe, the agency found that each woman had to pay Rs 5-10 lakh to the gang of 13 traffickers, including nine officials from the Delhi Regional Passport Office, for getting the travel documents. The traffickers, incidentally, provided all the women the same travel documents — which were issued for a family comprising five members — at different points of time for illegal emigration. The CBI had filed a chargesheet in the case in a city court here last month against the 13. The nine accused officials are: assistant passport official Om Prakash, superintendent Bibianus Topo (who is under suspension), three upper division clerks, one lower division clerk and three assistants. Naresh Kumar Mathur, Vinod Kumar Gupta and his two daughters are the four private persons chargesheeted by the CBI. Giving details in its chargesheet, the agency claimed that Gupta had got five passports issued in 2000 for himself, his wife and three daughters. Those of his wife and daughters were subsequently damaged. The family applied for new passports in 2001, which were reported as stolen. After this, an application was again made to the passport office for issuance of the travel documents against a fake address. The CBI alleged that Gupta himself took all the passports from the passport office. Later in January 2003, one person, Naresh Kumar Mathur — posing as Vinod Kumar Gupta — got all the five passports re-issued. The new passports were issued within two days but none of them actually belonged to Gupta or his family members. The photographs on the travel documents of his wife and daughters were those of other women suspected to be hailing from Punjab who had to go abroad with the help of the accused. The CBI alleged that Mathur got duplicate passports issued in the name of Gupta and his family members five times till the case was registered by the CBI. Mathur, the CBI alleged, used to take women from Punjab to London, Amsterdam or Paris. The women, who are married to persons settled in these countries, used to join their husbands as getting a visa for any of these countries was difficult on the basis of a Punjab address, especially that of Jalandhar, the CBI claimed. During the course of investigation, both Mathur and Gupta, along with Topo and an upper division clerk, Purushottam Lal, were arrested.