Panaji: With focus on discouraging human trafficking in Goa, the Crime Branch of Goa police is hunting for the main accused in prostitution rackets while also undertaking in-depth investigation into such cases.
According to police, the main accused in such cases operate remotely and are always at large.
A Crime Branch team recently nabbed one alleged notorious human trafficker, Rahul Gupta, from Delhi. The accused was said to be managing a prostitution racket from Delhi and was notorious for pushing several victims into trafficking in Goa, police said.
“Gupta was wanted in two prostitution cases (of 2018 and 2019),” said Crime Branch Superintendent of Police Shobhit Saksena. He said police will make efforts to discourage human trafficking in the state. “We are trying to identify the traffickers and nab them. There are around three such accused persons on our radar,” said Saksena adding “such menace is unacceptable in a civilised society. Investigation will be undertaken in a more in-depth manner.”
Saksena said police are also forming special teams to apprehend the accused, who are absconding. “The absconding accused include those who are wanted in ongoing investigations as well as those related to previous cases, especially prostitution cases,” Saksena said. He said previous cases in which the accused are absconding are being examined. “The efforts will be to track them down,” said Saksena.
Referring to the recent arrests of accused persons wanted in two separate cases, Saksena said Crime Branch teams have nabbed an accused wanted in a cybercrime-related case, while three other accused wanted for providing illegal firearm in connection with the Margao jeweller Swapnil Walke murder case have also been held. The accused – Kundan Kumar, Rahul Kumar Malik and Shani Kumar – were arrested from Begusarai in Bihar.
According to the police, during investigation into the Walke murder case, it was revealed that the accused Mustafa Shaikh and Evander Rodrigues had purchased an illegal firearm from Begusarai.
In the cybercrime-related case, the police have arrested Swapnil Naik for defrauding a victim to the tune of Rs 23 lakh by creating a fake profile on social media and impersonating as a woman interested in marrying the victim. Accused was arrested from Devangere in Karnataka, police said.
