Srinagar: The State Investigation Agency (SIA) Kashmir on Thursday conducted extensive searches at 18 locations in Srinagar as part of its investigation into a trans-national human trafficking case, officials said.
The case pertains to the illegal trafficking of foreign nationals, particularly from Myanmar and Bangladesh, into India, the officials said.
“Special teams of the SIA, aided by the Srinagar police, started the searches in the early hours. During the operation, incriminating material and documents such as identity cards, bank documents, and registers besides digital devices like mobile phones and computers were seized from various HR consultancies,” an official said here.
The investigations reveal that vulnerable foreign nationals are trafficked to India under the guise of employment opportunities.
“Upon their transportation to Jammu and Kashmir, they are sold to fake and illegal human resource agencies/consultancies, who further exploit them under the garb of job opportunities such as domestic helpers, maids, and babysitters, often leading to sexual exploitation,” the official said.
The official said this nefarious scheme is part of a broader conspiracy hatched by international terrorist organisations, in connivance with notorious trans-border human traffickers.
“These groups facilitate the infiltration of foreign nationals across international borders, concealing their original identities with forged Indian documents with the ultimate aim to establish sleeper cells to aid, execute, or facilitate terrorist acts in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir,” the official added.
