CBI unit to monitor and combat human trafficking

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has set up an anti-human trafficking unit to monitor and combat the commercial trade of human beings.

The intelligence agency has designated one unit in Special Crime Zone in Delhi as Anti-Human Trafficking Unit.

"This unit will be responsible for collecting, collating & analyzing data on kidnapping and abduction of persons from all over India," a CBI statement said on Wednesday.

The unit will develop actionable intelligence to conduct operations against gangs involved in trafficking, especially of children & women for the purpose of exploitation, such as beggary and prostitution. This unit would also liaise with NGOs involved in this field.

A helpline number 011-24368638 has been established by CBI, on which any person having inputs about such gangs can give information.

"It has also been decided that person giving information leading to arrest and criminal action against such gangs would be rewarded upto Rs 2 lakh," the statement said.

The government has already designated all police officers of the rank of Inspector and above in CBI as "Trafficking Police Officers" to exercise powers of investigation under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and other laws dealing with sexual exploitation of persons.

India is listed in the Tier II list of the UN which includes countries that have failed to combat human trafficking.

According to reports, numbers of persons affected by human trafficking could be anywhere between 20 to 65 million. Yearly some 70,000 people go missing in the country with the majority believed to having been trafficked or sold.

Out of the total number of persons affected by human trafficking, as many as 80 per cent are women and 50 per cent are children.