A 28-YEAR-OLD man from Karnataka was arrested from Mumbai on Thursday by the Pune city police crime branch for his alleged role in taking women to Saudi Arabia on job promise and “selling” them there at Rs 4 lakh each.
The accused Mohammed Faiyaz Ahmed Yahya, a resident of Oshiwara in Mumbai, was arrested from Mahim. Crime branch personnel handed him over to the Market Yard police station for further investigation.
Senior police inspector Sureshsingh Gaud said Yahya was produced before a court, which remanded him in police custody till September 26.
The incident came to light after three women from Ambedkar Nagar in Market Yard area of Pune, who were allegedly sold to persons from Riyadh and Hafar Al Batin in Saudi Arabia, were recently rescued and brought back to India.
According to Pune police, based on complaints filed by the victim women, two separate first information reports (FIRs) were registered at the Market Yard police station on September 18 against four persons, including the agents allegedly involved in the alleged human trafficking business.
During investigation, a team of the social security cell of Pune city police crime branch arrested the agent from Mahim in Mumbai. He has been booked under sections 420, 370, 385, 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
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Police said the victim women were in need of money and taking advantage of their poverty, the agents allegedly took them to Saudi Arabia on tourist visas, promising them jobs with salary of about Rs 40,000 per month.
However, the women were subjected to physical and mental torture by their masters, their complaint said. The victims managed to contact the Maharashtra State Commission for Women (SCW) through email on June 7, 2023, seeking help.
State Commission for Women chairperson Rupali Chakankar sought the intervention of the ministry of external affairs that eventually brought them back home on August 29.