New Delhi, September 18: A National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Hyderabad has sentenced nine people, including eight Bangladeshi nationals, to life imprisonment in connection with a 2019 human trafficking case involving Bangladeshi women, officials said on Friday.
The court, which pronounced the sentences on Thursday, also imposed a combined fine of Rs 1.37 lakh on the convicts. Failure to pay the fine will result in an additional three months of simple imprisonment, officials said.
According to the NIA, the case involved the trafficking of Bangladeshi women into India after they were allegedly lured with promises of well paid jobs and better employment opportunities. The women were subsequently forced into prostitution, the agency said.
The investigation originated from a case registered by Telangana Police in Hyderabad following an operation conducted in September 2019. During the operation, three Bangladeshi women were rescued from a brothel in Jalpally village, while another woman was rescued from a house in Mahimood Colony in Balapur.
The NIA subsequently took over the investigation and re-registered the case on October 12, 2019.
As the investigation progressed, the accused were arrested from various locations, including West Bengal and Telangana, during 2019 and 2020.
The nine convicts were identified as Ruhul Amin Dhali, Mohd Yousuf Khan alias Md Imran, Bithi Begum alias Khadija Shaik, Imamul Ghazi alias Mohd Rana Hussain, Mohammed Al Mamun, Sojib Shaik, Suresh Kumar Das alias Sagor, Mohd Abdulla Munshi alias Abdul Sarkar and Mohd Ayub Shaik.
Eight of those convicted are Bangladeshi nationals, while one is an Indian citizen.
The accused were prosecuted under multiple provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Foreigners Act, 1946, and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, according to the NIA statement.
The agency said the court’s judgment followed an investigation into an organised trafficking network that brought women across the border and subjected them to exploitation.