Two city girls sold for Rs1.70 lakh in Gujarat

Nagpur: Two women, aged around 19 and 21 years, were lured to Jamnagar in Gujarat on the pretext of a short leisure trip before being sold for Rs1.70 lakh by an acquaintance. The younger of the two was forced to marry someone, while the other was in confinement.
The matter came to fore after the younger of the two survivors, Shilpa (name changed) called her friend Sohel on cellphone and told him about her plight. She also told him about the other girl Nisha (also name changed). Nisha’s brother alerted Nandanvan police which have now registered an offence against Madhuri Umredkar and her male accomplice. Nisha and Madhuri are neighbours at Nandanvan slums.
Madhuri used to take Nisha along with her to catering services. Madhuri also befriended Shilpa while working with her.
Madhuri and her unidentified male accomplice are learnt to have lured the two survivors for a trip before taking them away to Gujarat on May 19.
The families of the survivors were clueless about their whereabouts before Nisha called Sohel. Shilpa’s brother, who is complainant in the case, told the cops that he was asleep when her elder sister left home. Next day, Nisha’s landlord told Shilpa’s brother that her sister had gone to some place for a trip and will return shortly.
On May 28, Shilpa made two calls on her friend’s cellphone through two different numbers telling him that Madhuri fled after selling them to different persons and abandoned the duo at Jamnagar. She also told him about an unidentified man who helped Madhuri seal the deal. Shilpa requested Sohel to alert Nisha’s family.
It’s learnt that a team of Nandanvan police is set to leave for Jamnagar to bring the survivors back. The cellphones from which Shilpa made the calls have been placed under technical surveillance. Details of the handset are now being retrieved to locate the survivors.
City-based traffickers have been targeting young women from economically weak background and luring them with various offers like short trips to states like Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana where they are forcibly sold as brides. In south Nagpur’s Tajbagh area, there is a racket which involves trafficking women to middle-east countries.