Human trafficking case: Properties owned by Singapore-based accused identified by police

The investigation into the human trafficking case, in which arrests were made recently, has led the district police to unearth the real estate business of the accused. Police have so far identified the properties of one of the main accused, Sunny, in Singapore. Police are on the hunt for Sunny, Jasbir Singh and a woman, Sonia, who were involved in the crime.

Sources in the police told The Indian Express that one of the accused, Veena, wife of Sunny, had made several rounds of Indonesia where she would meet the victims. The victims were lured by being told that they would be sent to either Europe or North America.

The sources added that Veena would take Indian currency, extorted from their victims, to Indonesia, and get those converted to USD. The accused then would distribute it further.

“Veena belongs to Gurdaspur district in Punjab. The accused would buy gold with most of the money they extorted from their victims and bought properties. So far, we have identified 10 to 11 accused and we have found that each had made a transaction of around Rs 3 crore through their bank accounts, buy properties or gold,” the sources revealed.

It was added that the accused had repaid the debt of around Rs 70 lakh in a span of one and half years. “They have been into this business for the past one and half years and have duped hundreds of people. Our investigation found that the victims were not students,” a police source said.

Police have also identified a goldsmith who used to purchase the gold from the accused and is said to be a resident of Phagwara town.

The district police on January 25 busted the human trafficking network and arrested five people identified as Baldish Kaur, Gurjeet Singh, Sahil, Som Raj and Veena. Police also identified their accomplices as Sunny Kumar and Jasbir Singh who are based in Indonesia and Singapore, respectively. Police recovered Rs 2.13 crore and 64 tolas of gold worth around Rs 33 lakh from the accused.