ITANAGAR, Mar 28: In a major crackdown on immoral trafficking, police teams from Banderdewa Police Station successfully rescued seven women and arrested two accused persons during a coordinated operation carried out on Friday, Naharlagun Superintendent of Police Dr Nyelam Nega informed on Saturday.
The operation was led by Naharlagun SDPO Rishi Longdo along with IPS (Probationer) T Yangki. Acting on credible inputs, the police conducted raids at two establishments, NK Lodge and Lovely Lodging at Banderdewa, where the victims were allegedly being exploited for sex work.
According to police, the rescued women, mostly from Assam, were from economically vulnerable and broken family backgrounds and had been lured into the trade under false promises.
At NK Lodge, owned by Kuru Richo and leased to Nazrul Islam for the past year, the manager Moina Das reportedly confessed during interrogation that all six rooms of the lodge had been used exclusively for immoral trafficking activities over the past eight months.
In a similar case, Lovely Lodging, owned by Nalo alias Tagin Baido, had been leased to Tate Taha and further sub-leased to Fardaus Ahmed for over a year. During questioning, Ahmed admitted that the premises had been used for trafficking activities for the past three to four months.
Police revealed that the modus operandi involved bringing in vulnerable women from Assam and engaging them in sex work at the lodgings. Customers were charged room rent directly by the managers along with service fees, with the women receiving only 25–50 percent of the earnings while the majority was retained by the operators.
The arrested accused have been identified as Fardaus Ahmed (35), a resident of Morigaon district, Assam, and Moina Das (34), a resident of Dhemaji district, Assam. Both have been booked under relevant provisions of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, along with other applicable laws.
SP Nega said the operation reflects the firm commitment of ICR Naharlagun Police to dismantle human trafficking networks exploiting vulnerable individuals. Further investigation is underway, and more details are expected to emerge, he said.