Mumbai: Bhayander cops get 'nerve centre' to combat human trafficking

Atul Kulkarni, Shivaji Rathod, Nawal Bajaj with IJM's Melissa Walavalkar and Amrit Kaur at the inauguration of the centre

To investigate the rising cases of trafficking of children and women and better equip the local police with investigation techniques for such crimes being committed online, the Mira-Bhayander police opened a 'Police Resource Centre for Investigation of Online Crimes,' at the Bhayander police station. The centre was inaugurated on Thursday by Special IG, Konkan Range, Nawal Bajaj and Superintendent of Police, Thane Rural, Shivaji Rathod.

Earlier this year, Special Inspector General of Police, Quaiser Khalid, had proposed establishing such a centre. Taking note of this and the changing trends in sex trafficking, the assistant superintendent of police, Thane Rural, Atul Kulkarni decided to establish the centre within his jurisdiction.

The centre is an initiative to combat online crimes, primarily the trafficking of minors in the suburban districts. Officers who will be involved with the centre are being trained on the technical front by the International Justice Mission (IJM), an anti-human trafficking body. Bajaj said the 'proactive initiative will be highly effective, primarily, in Konkan range'.

Resource hub
Director of justice solutions, IJM, Melissa Walavalkar said, "The system itself feels the need to establish a space that will serve as a resource hub to enable focused investigations of cyber-enabled crimes. Data management and analysis of both the crime and the criminals is crucial if we have to crack down on criminal networks."

Exclusive to cops, the centre comes equipped with a library of case studies and experts who provide technical support for the analysis of online trafficking crimes. A legal resource will also be available to police staff at centre. "This centre will serve as a nerve centre for all sex-trafficking cases being handled by anti-human trafficking units (AHTU) and local police stations in the Konkan region and will also be a space where data related to trafficking will be documented for analytical and reporting purposes," said Bajaj.

Open to train cops
The 25-member centre will be staffed to provide mentoring for methods of investigation, research, data collation, documentation, and coordination between different AHTUs in the Konkan region. The centre will soon get software that will allow the centralisation of data on sex-trafficking related cases, said Bajaj. The centre is open to train cops from nearby commissionerates to combat cases of child trafficking in Mumbai, Thane and Palghar district.

25
Total number of members the centre will have

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