The Uttar Pradesh Police have rescued two Hindu girls, aged 15 and 22 years, hailing from Basti district, from a possible human trafficking ring. Acting on a tip-off, the police arrested one Aftab, a resident of Balrampur district in Uttar Pradesh in connection with the case and are in the lookout for his gang members who are reportedly absconding.
The case came to the fore after one of the victim’s brother approached the Basti police station with a missing complaint.
Uttar Pradesh police reveal Aftab’s gang’s modus operandi
Explaining Aftab’s gang’s modus operandi, the police said that they firstly entrap Hindu girls, mostly minors, by implicating them into a relationship or by promising to provide them with a job. They then kidnap them, sexually assault them, and sell them to their Muslim buyers after forcefully converting them to Islam.
According to the police, Aftab did exactly the same, with these two victims also. He kidnapped the two Hindu girls (aged 15 and 22) and kept them locked in a rented flat in Mewana city in Meerut district in Uttar Pradesh. It is believed that before getting the victims to Mawana, Aftab had kept them confined in a rented flat in Mathura. The police revealed that Aftab, who had sexually exploited the victims on several occasions, had forcefully converted them to Islam and was on the verge of selling them off when the police, acting on a tip-off, rescued the girls and arrested the accused.
During interrogation, Aftab confessed before the police, that they target Hindu girls, mostly minors since they are soft targets. He said that he lured the two victims by promising to provide them with a job. Once the girls fell prey, he kidnapped them, raped them, converted and sold them to his customers.
The police said that many other Muslim youths who were a part of Aftab’s gang, have until now, tortured many vulnerable Hindu girls, mostly minors and sold them to their Muslim buyers.
The police said that Aftab and his accomplice had hired many flats in the Western fringe of Uttar Pradesh for this purpose. The police are now tracing the falt owners to get more details about this purported sex-trafficking gang.