Bhubaneswar: The Crime Branch (CB) of state police Sunday asked the district superintendents of police (SPs) and deputy commissioners of police (DCPs) of twin city to check the trafficking of girls through placement agencies on the pretext of jobs and issued an advisory in this regard Sunday.
The department said the advisory has been issued in the backdrop of rising cases of human trafficking from Odisha specifically involving young girls to various cities outside the state.
According to the advisory, the issue of trafficking of girls by placement agencies came to fore after Laxman Giluwa, Member of Parliament, Jharkhand raised the issue of trafficking of girls from Jharkhand to big cities and the dubious role played by placement agencies in this process.
Later, the Ministry of Home Affairs advised the states to sensitise the field functionaries of police department about the issue. The advisory read, “Like Jharkhand, Odisha is also a source state of human trafficking.”
The CB has asked officials to keep vigil on the fake agents of the placement agencies, who coax the young girls with false promises of marriage or job in major cities of the country. The advisory directed the officials –“A database should be maintained at each police station against the traffickers who have been involved in such type of cases.”
An effective coordination is required to prevent the menace of such crimes in collaboration with other stakeholders like Women and Child Development Department, Labour Department, Tourism and Railways, as well as NGOs. There is a need for exchange of information between these stakeholders to ensure that such activities are curbed, it further read.
Public awareness campaigns may be conducted to make the people aware of such activities including the traps laid by the agencies to target the women and girls with false promise of providing job opportunities.
Private placement agencies and employers may be identified and their activities be kept under close vigil, so that they do not indulge in recruitment and placement of women and girls in hazardous and offensive employment.
Close watch should be kept at all transit points, such as railway stations, bus stands, public places, hotels and guest houses, so as to identify the brokers and rescue the victims from their clutches.
NGOs working in the area of anti-human trafficking should be closely associated and their sharing of information and intelligence with the police may be encouraged.
Trafficking prone areas should be identified and mechanism be put in place to monitor the activities of placement agencies.
If complaints are received against private labour recruiters and placement agencies operating without any license or authority then immediate legal action may be initiated.
While making passport verification, the concerned officer shall have to ascertain the purpose of visit abroad and if there is involvement of any placement agencies to that effect.
The CB directed the officials to follow the instructions and sensitise the officers under their jurisdiction to keep sharp look in this matter to avoid any unlawful confinement and victimisation of any women or girl by the recruiters/placement agencies.
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