Hyderabad, Oct 18: A year after busting an international Bangladeshi human trafficking gang, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed its first charge sheet in the case and named 12 persons, including nine Bangladesh nationals.

Of the 12, Bangladesh's Bithi Begum has been accused of playing a key role in the racket involving the trafficking of women from Bangladesh to Indian and vice versa. Delhi Human Trafficking: DCW Rescues 2.5-Month-Old Girl Who Was Sold Several Times, 5 Arrested.

In the NIA charge sheet filed on Saturday in a special court here, eight other Bangladesh nationals named are Abdul Barik Shaik, Mohammed Yousuf Khan, Mohammed Rana Hussain, Mohammed Al Mamun, Sojib Shaik, Suresh Kumar Das, Mohammed Abdulla Munshi and Mohammed Ayub Shaik. Shaik is still absconding.

Of the remaining three traffickers, Ruhul Amin Dhali belongs to West Bengal and Asad Hasan and Shareeful Shaik from Maharashtra.

The case was initially registered on September 21 last year at Pahadishareef police station in Hyderabad following the arrest of 10 human traffickers by police from two brothels at Jalpally village and Mahimood Colony in Hyderabad.

Four Bangladeshi girls were rescued and several digital devices, fake Indian identity documents and other incriminating material were seized.

Investigation by the NIA established that the arrested accused were accomplices of Ruhul Amin Dhali and Abdul Barik Sheikh, who trafficked young girls from Bangladesh to India and vice versa, the NIA said.

Dhali had been arrested by the NIA on December 12 last year in another case.

Investigation further revealed that there were money transfers between Dhali and Abdul Barik Shaik as commission paid to the former for human trafficking across the borders.

Dhali and 10 other arrested accused had illegally entered India in 1980's and established a prostitution racket along with Yusuf Khan and his wife Bithi Begum in various parts of India.

The 12 accused hatched a criminal conspiracy along with their accomplices in Bangladesh to look for young Bangladeshi women in the age-group of 19-25 and take them to India by crossing the Sonai River and via Kolkata and then to various destinations in India, including Mumbai and Hyderabad.

These girls were lured with promises of lucrative jobs and better quality of life in India, provided fake Indian identity documents, and eventually forced into prostitution.

The rescued young girls and women are presently lodged at shelter homes in Hyderabad and the arrested accused are in judicial custody in Hyderabad.

"Further investigation in the case is continued," the NIA added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 18, 2020 04:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).