Woman ‘sold off’ in Dubai, police book travel agent

Tribune News Service

Patiala, November 18

The police have registered a case against a man under the Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act after a woman alleged that he took Rs 2.60 lakh from her on the pretext of sending her abroad for work and later sold her off to a sheikh.

The woman, a resident of Jai Jawan Colony, said Sanjeev Khan, a resident of Pratap Nagar, duped her of Rs 2.60 lakh on the pretext of sending her to Dubai. She said the suspect sold her off to a sheikh in Dubai. She was later sold off to another person in Oman. She was also beaten up. 

According to the 34-year-old woman, she had gone abroad for work in October 2017. She has a 12-year-old son and lives with her mother after being separated from her husband years ago.

She said, “The travel agent first took Rs 2.60 lakh from me for sending me abroad. Later, I got to know that he sold me off to a sheikh. They made me work a lot and also beat me up. They mistreated me.”

  She said she was later sold off to another man in Oman. “I later went to a police station but the police did not help me. They told me that I was bought by the sheikh and they could not deport me to India.”

  The woman returned India in July this year. She said she got in touch with her family and returned with the help of some officials in Chandigarh.

 The police have now registered a case against travel agent Sanjeev Khan under Section 420 (cheating and dishonesty) of the IPC and Section 13 of the Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act. DSP (City-I) Yogesh Sharma said they were conducting raids to nab the travel agent.