The Rapid Action Battalion has identified one of the suspects, Ashraful Islam alias Rafi, 30, as the kingpin of the gang who allegedly smuggled at least 500 women to India in five years.
Rifatul Islam alias Ridoy Babo, also known as TikTok Ridoy Babu, who was arrested in India along with five others on charges of raping the victim, is one of the agents of Rafi, the RAB says.
Commander Khandaker Al Moyeen, a director of the RAB, said at a news conference in Dhaka on Tuesday that Ridoy helped Rafi traffic around 50 women since the duo had met two years ago.
The three others arrested in Bangladesh are Shahida Begum, 46, Md Ismail Sarder, 38, and Md Abdur Rahman Sheikh alias Arman Sheikh, 26. All the six arrested in India are also believed to be Bangladeshis.
The RAB made the arrests in Jhenaidah Sadar, and Jashore’s Abhaynagar and Benapole. Two of the six suspects arrested in India are from Jashore, according to their families and locals.
The international human-trafficking ring has around 50 members, including foreigners, who trick women into travelling to India by promising them jobs at markets, superstores and salons, RAB’s Moyeen said.
The culprits film the victims in improper state after drugging them. They then use the videos to blackmail them into sex work.
Rafi had earlier worked as a driver and clothing trader in Bengaluru for eight years during which time he came into contact with the human traffickers. He later formed his own gang, the RAB official said, citing information gleaned from the suspect during interrogation.
The traffickers used both legal and illegal ways to take the victims to India after gathering them in border districts of Jashore, Satkhira or Jhenaidah.
Their agents on the other side of the border then took them to Rafi in Bengaluru via Kolkata.
Rafi became the leader of the gang for being fluent in different languages. The agents paid him Tk 10,000 to Tk 15,000 per victim.
Moyeen said the traffickers beat the 22-year-old Bangladeshi victim and then uploaded the video online to punish her after she had helped two others escape.
They filmed the video at the home of a person identified with a single name, Sabuj. Rafi told the RAB that he had other places to keep the victims in Bengaluru.
Along with Shahida, the female suspect arrested in Bangladesh, her daughters “Sonia” and “Tania” also work for the group. They are currently in Bengaluru, Shahida told the RAB.