Our Reporter
Dimapur, Sep. 27 (EMN): The Ministry of Home Affairs has allocated an amount INR 100 crore from Nirbhaya fund for setting up anti-human trafficking units (AHTUs) in all districts of states/UTs and to strengthen the existing AHTUs and the law enforcement response against trafficking in persons, stated the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its Crime Report in India 2020.
As per data provided by states and UTs, a total of 696 AHTUs are functional and 20 states/UTs have achieved their target of setting up AHTUs in all districts.
Nagaland has 12 police districts (PDs) and an equal number of district-level AHT Units (12) as in 2020, while its neighbour Assam has 35 PDs and 37 AHTUs; Andhra Pradesh has 13 PDs, three AHTUs; Manipur- 16 PDs, five AHTUs; Meghalaya- 11 PDs, 11 AHTUs; Mizoram- 11 PDs, four AHTUs; Sikkim- four PDs, five AHTUs; and Tripura- eight PDs and two AHTUs, informed NCRB in its report.
According to NCRB report, a total of 1,714 cases of human trafficking were registered in 2020, a decrease of 22.4% from 2019 (2,208 cases). A total of 4,709 victims have been reported to be trafficked in which 2,222 children and 2,487 adults were trafficked.
Maharashtra and Telangana registered highest number of human trafficking cases with 184 cases each, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 171 cases. Apart from this, 4,680 victims have been rescued from clutches of traffickers and total of 4,966 persons were arrested, it was informed.
Meanwhile, Nagaland didn’t register any human trafficking cases in 2020, down from three cases in 2019. Disposal of persons arrested under human trafficking in Nagaland during the year was nine.
As per the Nagaland Sakhi One Stop Centre, as many as 24 cases of human trafficking were reported between 2016 to March 2021 with Dimapur district accounting for 23 cases alone and one in Kohima.
Since the inception of Dimapur OSC on June 23 2016, only one case was reported between 2016 and 2018, and 20 cases reported between 2018 and 2019. During 2019-20, only two cases were reported while there was no case reported between 2020 till March 2021.
In Kohima, since the inception of OSC on Nov. 23 in 2016, only one case of human trafficking was reported between 2018 and 2019. Not a single case of human trafficking has been reported in other districts since the inception of the OSC.
The NCRB, however, stated that its data represents only those trafficking cases which have been registered by respective AHTUs.