Sheeba Haji
Srinagar, Feb 02: A district court in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district on Friday rejected the bail plea of the four accused of being involved in human trafficking while citing the threat to national security.
In November last year, Five people, including a Rohingya man, were arrested by the police for their alleged involvement in a human trafficking racket.
The case was cracked by Hajin police station after the police received a tip off that some people were trafficking Rohingya women from Bangladesh and forcing them to marry locals in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for money.
The accused including Nazir Ahmad Chopan son of Sonaullah Chopan Resident of Vijipara Hajin and Fayaz Ahmad Parray son of Gh Mohidein Parray Resident of Check Ganastan Tehsil Sumbal, Reyaz Ahmad Bhat and Abdul Qayoom Khan epresented by their respective counsels claimed innocence, stating they were falsely implicated.
Principal Sessions’ Judge Bandipora Amit Sharma rejected the bail plea of accused and stated that the crime is not only against the humanity but also a threat to national security as persons from other country were being settled in the country.
Court observed that the accused, by engaging in the sale and purchase of victims, were not law-abiding citizens. The decision was based on the belief that there were reasonable grounds to connect the accused with an international racket of human trafficking.
Principal Sessions Judge observed that the human values have degraded to such an extent that they are selling these victims like domestic animals to one and another, thereby totally ignoring this fact that the said victims being the human beings are also having the equivalent right as women which other women of their age are entitled.
“That means the rights which are available to the sisters, daughters of these accused persons are equally available to these victim-girls and their only fault that they because of their poverty as well as because of being forcibly or tactfully kidnapped from their family routes are taken away to the place of an unknown country and place where they are totally alien to the language, society as well as custom,” court observed.
“…That by way of solemnising the Nikah ceremony of these victims from outside the country they are instrumental in settling the outsiders in the state is a direct threat to the national security of the country," the court observed
However, accused through their counsel Advocate Mir Shabir and Associates pleaded innocence and argued that their detention since November 25, 2023, had left their elderly parents in distress, impacting their reputation and socio-economic status.
On the opposing side, the UT of J&K, represented by the Public Prosecutor (PP) Abdul Majid and Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) Bilal Ahmad painted a grave picture of the case. The accusations of human trafficking, a Scheduled Offense under the NIA Act, 2008, were presented as a heinous crime with international dimensions.
The prosecution's stance was clear – releasing the accused on bail might undermine the gravity of the offense. The severity of the charges was underscored, with specific references to Section 370 of the IPC, which dealt with human trafficking.
The prosecution outlined grounds for opposing bail, including the involvement of foreigners, the invocation of the Foreigners Act, 1946, and the potential connection to cross-border crime syndicates. APP argued that the accused were not just lone individuals but part of a network exploiting vulnerable individuals. The severity of the potential punishment, involving rigorous imprisonment and fines, was stressed as a factor to be considered by the court.
The court, in considering the arguments, expressed deep concern over the sale and purchase of Rohingya women, describing it as a degradation of human values in the modern digital society.
The Court dismissed the defence's claim that the accused were not connected to the offence, highlighting their presence at the Nikah ceremony and their financial transactions related to the illegal activity.
The court noted that the accused played a role in settling outsiders in the country illegally, posing a direct threat to national security.
