Int’l human trafficking racket: Arrested Rohingyas grilled over SA-based Bangladeshi kingpin

Investigators prepared a questionnaire focused on extracting details about a South Africa-based Bangladeshi national Saeed and a London-based Indian national Gurpreet Singh, who were operating the racket sitting several kilometres away from here

LUCKNOW The UP Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) cross-questioned two Rohingyas arrested from Kolkata in connection with an international human trafficking racket busted on Sunday to extract information about the South Africa based kingpin of the racket, said police officials on Tuesday.

The arrested persons were members of a widespread international network of human traffickers operating from South Africa and London. (Pic for representation)

Two accused, Mohd Jameel, 40, and Noor Ameen, 28, residents of Myanmar, were in eight days’ custody of the ATS since Tuesday morning. The Lucknow ATS court granted their custody remand on Monday for their interrogation, said officials.

A police official said the investigators prepared a questionnaire focused on extracting details about a South Africa-based Bangladeshi national Saeed and a London-based Indian national Gurpreet Singh, who were operating the racket sitting several kilometres away from here. “Saeed, who had stayed in India for a few years, is suspected to be the kingpin of the racket and Gurpreet Singh is his main aide. He was allegedly in direct contact with Mohd Jameel,” he said.

Tightening the noose around Saeed and Gurpreet Singh may help expose the wider network across the country. The two arrested accused had revealed some crucial details about the kingpin and his links following which further investigation was on, said the official.

So far, nine members of this racket had been arrested from different parts of the country. The ATS official said the arrested persons were members of a widespread international network of human traffickers operating from South Africa and London.

He said the traffickers helped Bangladeshi nationals get Hindu names and Indian passports by preparing fake address proofs like Aadhaar card and voter ID cards. He also said that the Bangladeshi nationals were later sent to different countries as Indian nationals.