Human trafficking from Punjab: 'Dubai-based Keralite key operator of racket'

Aparna Banerji

Jalandhar, June 15

“Travel agent Shatar, a Keralite based in Dubai, is the key operator in the human trafficking chain. He is a blackmailer. A large number of women, mainly Punjabis, are being lured into foreign shores for menial jobs and inhuman existence,” says Suman (name changed), a Ferozepur woman, who managed to escape from confinement in Ajman a few days ago.

Her ordeal is indicative of the fate of other women, who have been similarly “duped and blackmailed” in the Gulf.

Threatened me

After my tourist visa expired, Shatar started threatening me, saying that I would be sent to jail if I did not seek money from my family. A victim

Still stuck in Dubai owing to incomplete paperwork, Suman told The Tribune, “I was picked up from the airport in a car by Shatar’s driver nearly a month ago. I was taken to a decent accommodation, which had five more girls.”

She said even after staying there for about 20 days, they were not provided any job. “We had been taken there on a tourist visa and were promised that we would be provided jobs. We were told that we will get a work visa after we land.”

“My tourist visa expired and Shatar started threatening me saying that I would be sent to jail if I did not seek money from my family. We were given mobiles for brief periods and during one such opportunity, I was able to connect with the Punjab Police.

Jalandhar SSP Mukhvinder Singh intervened and helped us.” “Five of us had escaped. With the intervention of the Punjab Police, we were freed by some Indian men, who kept us in a club set up by Punjabis. We even approached the local police. They assured us that they would get back our passports.”

Suman said, “For the 20 days I stayed there, we only saw Shatar and a woman who works there. He speaks Hindi as well as Arabic. I began doubting him when he kept our passports and never sent us to work despite being asked.”

SSP Mukhvinder Singh said, “The name of the Dubai agent of a girl from Kapurthala, who also escaped, is Abdullah. Tracking these men is an ordeal. We have been seeking the number or address of the agent of the Ferozepur woman too, but she says she doesn’t have it. If we get some information, we can also flag the Kerala Government.”