Placement agency owners held for human trafficking

Four placement agency owners, including a woman, have been arrested for an alleged involvement in human trafficking. Eight minor girls from Assam, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have also been rescued, police said on Tuesday.

Ravinder Yadav, Pradeep Toppo, Vimal Kerketta and Babita, all reisdents of Shakurpur JJ Colony, were held after a tip-off on last Saturday.

“We received information that placement agencies — Babita Enterprises, India Maid Bureau, Deepika Placement Agency and Mission Welfare Society — were involved in trafficking of minor girls from Assam, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh,” said Sanjay Kumar Jain, deputy commissioner of police (crime and railways).

The placement agencies had been placing the rescued girls as domestic helps in the city. “Of the eight minor girls rescued, four belong to Assam, one is from Chhattisgarh and three from Jharkhand,” Jain added.

They were produced before the Child Welfare Committee and sent to Nirmal Chhaya children’s home for girls at Hari Nagar after medical examination.

A case under the Juvenile Justice Act and the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the four accused.