Human trafficking racket uncovered as 22 Indian boys remain missing
What's the story
The detention of an Indian teenage boy in Paris has uncovered an international human trafficking racket in India.
The detained boy was one of 25 boys, aged 13 to 18, who were taken to Paris under the pretext of a rugby training camp and abandoned there.
Only two of the 25 have made it back to India. The others remain missing.
Investigation
CBI identifies three traffickers, searches premises
After questioning the detained boy, the French Police had informed the CBI about the same.
Based on the information provided by the French Police, the CBI identified three trafficking agents - Lalit David Dean, Sanjeev Raj, and Varun Choudhary - based out of Delhi and Faridabad.
The CBI registered FIRs against the three and carried out searches of their property.
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How the traffickers managed to pull it off
"French visas...were obtained on the basis of an alleged invitation received from the 'French Federation' in Paris. All of them visited Paris...thereafter the agents got their return tickets cancelled. But before this two boys sensed something wrong and managed to return," said a CBI spokesperson.
Findings
Parents of the boys had paid Rs. 25-30 lakh each
In the CBI searches, several incriminating documents and laptops were found. The accused are currently being questioned and the laptops, scrutinized.
Investigations revealed that the 25 boys, fraudulently shown as students of two schools at Kapurthala, Punjab, were taken to Paris on 1st February, 2016.
According to sources, CBI suspects that the boys' parents paid Rs. 25-30 lakh each for sneaking them into Paris.
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How the agents duped one of the boys' parents
"He got in touch with one of the agents who promised to send the boy [to the US] in lieu of Rs. 27lakh. But the agents it seems left the boy in Paris," said an investigator, referring to a parent who had been traced.