Detectives yesterday busted a human trafficking gang who lured people with false promises of high-paid jobs before smuggling them to countries in Southeast Asia or Oceania.
The traffickers charged their clients around Tk7 lakh each to be smuggled into Indonesia, Australia, or Malaysia. But prior to reaching their destination, the clients were flown to the island of Palau, located northeast of Indonesia, as the country offered on-arrival visa.
After reaching Palau, the smuggled persons were held hostage for ransom. Once their families back home paid the money, local traffickers arranged passage to nearby countries.
The details were revealed following the arrest of three people – Golam Rabbani, Shahadat Hossain alias Masud and Shafiqul Islam – from the capital’s Dakkhinkhan and Fakirapul areas. Passports and other documents were also recovered from their possession.
Eighteen people who were set to be trafficked to other countries were also rescued by the police from Dakkhinkhan, said Detective Branch Deputy Commissioner Shaikh Nazmul Alam.
Addressing a press conference at the DMP media centre, he said while investigating a case by a trafficking victim named Kabir Ahmed, the police raided a residential hotel named Dirifaz in Dakkhinkhan’s Ashkona and arrested Rabbani and Masud. The trafficking victims were also rescued from the hotel.
“Sensing the presence of police, the illegal trafficking organisation GLC Private Limited’s Managing Director Mahmudur, Manager Babul Hossain, Cashier Mahfuzur Rahman, Mahbub, and Obaidur fled the spot,” said DC Nazmul.
Later in the day, based on another victim’s complaint, detectives raided a residential house behind Fakirapool’s G-Nat tower, where they detained Shafiq and recovered Tk50,000 from his possession.
Shafiq’s arrest came after a person named Raju notified the police that one of his relatives was swindled by Shafiq, who charged Tk5.4 lakh to send that relative named Rob to Malaysia on a tourist visa. However, once he had reached there, Rob was held captive and his family was asked to pay a further Tk2.60 lakh for his release, said the DB official.
“Once the associates of Shafiq received information about his arrest in Bangladesh, they released Rob in Malaysia,” added Nazmul.