Telangana Police achieves top rank in combating human trafficking

Hyderabad: Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) Anjani Kumar on Tuesday
said that Telangana has achieved the top rank among all states in the country for taking stringent action against human trafficking, which has now become the third largest organized crime
worldwide.

As part of the Telangana state decade celebrations, the State Police Women Security Wing, in collaboration with the Bachpan Bachao Andolan NGO, organized a state-level conference on
Anti-Human Trafficking – Rescue and Rehabilitation at the Telangana Police Academy on
Tuesday.

The event aimed

to strengthen the coordination between Special Juvenile Police Units (SJPUs),
Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs), Anti-Labor Organizations (ALOs), Child Welfare
Committees (CWCs), District Child Protection Units (DCPUs), NGOs, and other stakeholders.
As a chief guest, speaking on the occasion, the DGP emphasized the need for collaborative efforts between the police department and voluntary organizations to combat the growing threat of human and child trafficking within society.

He stressed the importance of developing professional skills to effectively counter trafficking at the grassroots level.

Shika Goyal, Additional Director General (ADG) of the State Women’s Security Department, highlighted the pivotal role played by the department as the nodal agency in the state for all
anti-human trafficking activities.

Goyal proudly announced that Telangana is the first state to have functional anti-human trafficking units in every police district. Moreover, she stated that Telangana Police maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards human trafficking, resulting in the registration of 738 cases and the arrest of 1,961 individuals over the past two years.

Additionally, 110 accused have been charged under the Preventive Detention Act. Goyal also commended the efforts of the Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) in successfully tracing missing children, revealing that Telangana has the highest percentage (96 per cent) of identified children in the country.

Goyal further shared that the Women’s Security Department, in collaboration with NGOs and
other stakeholders, conducts rescue operations and is currently developing a specialized data management system to dismantle trafficking networks.

Sandeep Sandilya, Director of the Telangana Police Academy, provided an overview of the legal provisions aimed at combating human trafficking. He emphasized the necessity of addressing the
root causes of these crimes.

During the conference, Additional Director General (ADG) of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Mahesh Bhagwat, delivered a presentation on organ trading.

He discussed new trends in organ trade, methods to prevent cases, protect victims, and identify them.
Notable speakers at the conference included retired Director General of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Dr PM Nair, SP of Women’s Security, PV Padmaja, Additional SP P.
Ashok, and various other experts.

Over 100 representatives from police departments, labour organizations, women and child
welfare departments, and voluntary organizations actively participated in the workshop, a
police release said.