SIA raids in Srinagar to combat transnational human trafficking

New Delhi: In a move against transnational human trafficking, the State Investigation Agency (SIA) Jammu and Kashmir conducted searches at 18 locations within Srinagar city.

Supported by the Srinagar police, specialized teams initiated the operation in the early hours, seizing a plethora of incriminating materials and documents, including identity cards, bank documents, registers, and digital devices like mobile phones and computers from various HR consultancies.

The focus of the investigation revolves around the illegal trafficking of foreign nationals into Indian territory, primarily from Myanmar and Bangladesh. Vulnerable individuals are lured with false promises of employment opportunities and transported to India and into the Union territory of J&K.

Upon arrival in Jammu and Kashmir, they fall prey to nefarious elements within fake and illegal human resource agencies, who exploit them under the guise of domestic roles such as helpers, maids, and babysitters, often subjecting them to sexual exploitation.

Disturbingly, these activities are not isolated incidents but part of a larger scheme orchestrated by international terrorist organizations in collusion with notorious trans-border human traffickers.

These groups operate with sinister intentions, facilitating the infiltration of foreign nationals across international borders. They further conceal the identities of these individuals with forged Indian documents, aiming to establish sleeper cells that could aid, execute, or facilitate terrorist activities within the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.

The SIA underlines its commitment to examining the seized materials to ensure the identification and prosecution of all involved parties. This operation is yet another step and  efforts of the SIA to dismantle the terror ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir while exposing the sinister agendas of international terrorist organizations operating in the region.

It is pertinent to note that there is already a significant population of displaced Rohingya in Jammu, with several of them currently detained in local jails, highlighting the severity of the issue at hand.