Cyberabad Anti-Human Trafficking Unit rescues 32 victims in 6 months

Hyderabad: In the six months since its formation, the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU), Cyberabad commissionerate, has rescued 32 victims. The AHTU was formed on 5 September 2020 with the aim to prevent trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute the accused persons.

Of the 32 victims, seven each were rescued from West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, four from Telangana and New Delhi, and three from Andhra Pradesh.

The AHTU participated in 'Operation Smile-Vll' conducted in Cyberabad commissionerate in January 2021 to trace and rescue missing children. The AHTU team helped identify a 17-year-old who had been missing since 2005. The team found the girl at Vivekanada Home in Miyapur. Their inquiries revealed that the girl was two-and-a-half-years old when she was found at Charminar and handed over to the CWC. From there the child was taken to Happy Home at Bodduppal and later shifted to Vivekanada Home.

Upon inquiry, the AHTU team discovered that the child was missing from the Charminar area and her parents had filed a case at the Hussanialam police station. The case however was referred as 'undetected' in 2005. The AHTU team approached the parents and showed them photos of the girl. The parents visited the home and identified the child as their daughter based on identification marks.

In another case, AHTU helped trace another missing girl who had disappeared from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. According to the case filed at the Ganganagar police station in Meerut district Hasram Meena (17) of Rajasthan met the victim, a 14-year-old girl, online and took her from Meerut to Rajasthan. The Ganganagar police found that the girl was in Telangana and requested the state women safety wing (WSW) to take necessary action to trace the minors.

On the instruction of the WSW, the AHTU team started an investigation and found that Meena had bought a SIM card using a fake address and had used nine different mobile phones (30 IMEI numbers). They obtained the call data and location from the different phone numbers and traced their location. They also found that the accused had earlier been involved in a bike theft case in Rajasthan. Both the minors were given counseling and handed over to the Ganganagar police for further necessary action.