In a major crackdown, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday arrested 44 persons for their alleged involvement in human trafficking, following searches across 10 States and Union Territories in close coordination with the Border Security Force (BSF) and local police.
While 21 accused were arrested in Tripura and 10 in Karnataka, five were picked up from Assam, three from West Bengal, two from Tamil Nadu and one each from Puducherry, Telangana and Haryana. “The operation aimed at dismantling human trafficking support networks involved in the infiltration and settlement of illegal migrants across the Indo-Bangladesh border into India,” said the agency.
The raids began in the early hours in connection with four human trafficking cases registered by the NIA’s branches in Guwahati, Chennai, Bengaluru and Jaipur. The searches were carried out at 55 locations in Tripura, Assam, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry.
