Motijheel police in a special drive rescued 10 children, aged between nine and 14, from a so-called NGO office in the capital’s Rampura yesterday and arrested four suspected human traffickers posing as its officials.
The four people could not present any valid document of the NGO named Adomyo Bangladesh Foundation or their identities. Police primarily suspect that the children were gathered from different areas of Dhaka and other districts to be trafficked abroad.
The arrestees are Arifur Rahman, Jakia Sultana, Hasibul Islam Sabuj and Firoz Alam Shuvo. Arif claimed himself as chairman of the NGO while Jakia its secretary. The two others said that they were members of the organisation.
Arif claimed that they used to provide computer education to the street urchins and vulnerable children. However, the rescued children told the police that they used to make paper packets and were tortured at the house.
After the drive, police sealed off the office, situated on the sixth floor of a mess building at section C of Banasree residential area. The children were kept in one room which was found very unhygienic while the two other rooms were used as office and dinning rooms.
There was no signboard of the NGO in the building.
Four computers and 10 mobile phones were also recovered from the spot, police said.
Anowar Hossain, deputy commissioner of Motijheel division of police, said that they conducted the drive after receiving a complaint from a person that his nephew had been kept confined in the flat.
The children were identified as Bhola’s Babul, 10, Abbas, 10, Shapan, 11, Noakhali’s Akash, 9, Rafiq, 14, Comilla’s Mobarak Hossain, 14, Pirojpur’s Abdullah Al Mamun, 11, Narayanganj’s Ibrahim, 10, Mymensingh’s Rasel, 14, and Moulvibazar’s Forhad Hossain, 9.
“We arrested the four people as suspected human traffickers since they failed to show us any valid documents. We are now checking the documents they have given us and will gather more information about them using our intelligence network,” DC Anowar said.
The arrestees talking to reporters claimed that they kept the children in the house to provide them supports, not for collecting ransom. The self-proclaimed chairman, Arif, claimed that they used to train the children after bringing them from the streets.
A case was lodged with Rampura police after the drive. Mobarak’s uncle Munir Hossain had filed the written complaint.
Monir, a butcher from Sobujbagh in capital, said that his elder brother’s son Mobarak was a student of Uttar Goran Borhan Eidgah Madrasa. He brought Mobarak to Dhaka from his village home in Comilla and admitted him to the madrasa a month ago.
“Last Friday, when I went to visit the madrasa to take information about him, I was told that an NGO official had taken him for education. Taking address of the NGO from them, I went to the office and found Mobarak. He was crying and said that the people used to torture him and forced him to make paper packets,” Monir said.
“The officials refused to let Mobarak leave the place and drove me out. Later I informed the police about the matter,” he added.
Alea Begum, wife of the security guard at the house, said that Arif had rented the flat a month ago and Jakia used to bring foods from outside.
One of the rescued children Rafiq could not say who had brought him to the office. Another child Farhad said that an unknown woman brought him in the house.
