PANJIM: Former senior police officers and crusaders against sex trafficking in the State have called for handing over the cases of international sex trafficking culminating into Goa to the National Investigation Agency these cases need to be conducted in source destinations in Africa and also, the proceeds of the racket may very well be used in trades threatening national security.
Arun Pandey of ARZ Goa said, “Involvement of foreign nationals in sex trafficking rackets and the serious nature of the revelations made by former DIG and SP of FRRO Goa, Bosco George that members of Indian high commission, posted in African countries, may be hand-in-gloves with the traffickers for enabling the victims to get the documents to come to India for commercial sexual exploitation, merits investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA),” he said.
“Intelligence Bureau is sitting here and what is it doing? It is a national security issue. NIA has a mandate to investigate the matter,” he said.
“Action must be taken against those who are involved in enabling the traffickers to smuggle these girls to India for commercial sexual exploitation. We are seriously concerned about the trafficking happening from the African countries," Pandey said.
"Recently, with the help of Goa Police, we have rescued six victims of Kenyan nationality. During the investigation and while interacting with the girls, we were surprised to know that the girls within a few days got the visa to travel to India,” he added.
“I think the NIA should take this matter seriously and do a thorough probe regarding girls getting visas to travel to India, even though they are not qualified,” he opined.
Former DIG and SP FRRO Bosco George said, “How come these girls, who are not qualified, are coming to India to work in the hospitality industry? That means it is a big racket and it needs to be investigated by a national agency.”
Former DGP of Bihar P M Nair, who has over four decades of experience in combating human trafficking, said that the national agencies need to support Goa Police to investigate these international sex trafficking cases.
“The national agencies have to complement the Goa police in investigating such cases because of the wide scope,” he said.