5 trafficking victims return home after 17 months

Five Bangladeshi teenagers, who had been trafficked to India, have returned home after spending 17 months in an Indian correction centre. Indian Immigration Police’s Officer-in-Charge Nazir Hossain handed the five teenagers over to Hili Immigration Check post OC Md Aftab Hossain around 11:30am Saturday. The five Bangladeshis are Mamun Hossain, 15, Md Afsar Hossain, 17, Badol Rana, 15, Moshiur Rahman, 15, and Sagor Rana, 15. All of them hailed from Ruhia village of Thakurgaon’s Haripur upazila. They said that a broker had trafficked them to India luring them with promises of lucrative jobs. OC Aftab Hossain said Indian Border Security (BSF) members detained the five teenagers on October 27, 2015 while they were going to Balurghat from Katabari area of the country. “Later, they were sent to a juvenile correction centre through court,” he added. He further said the five teenagers were handed over to their families on Saturday.