Railway Protection Force launches nationwide “Operation AAHT”

Railway Protection Force has launched a nationwide operation to curb human trafficking. As part of “Operation AAHT”, special teams will be deployed on all long-distance trains/routes with focus on rescuing victims, particularly women and children, from the clutches of traffickers.

Key Highlights

• The Railways, which operate about 21,000 trains across the country daily, is the most reliable mode of transportation for the traffickers who often moved their victims on long-distance trains.
• The RPF that recued more than more than 2,000 women and children between 2017-21 from the clutches of traffickers intensified the crackdown on human trafficking with the increasing number of cases. 
• The National Crime Records Bureau registers about 2,200 cases of Human Trafficking cases on an average each year.
• The Indian Railways, which transported over 23 million passengers each day (pre-pandemic), is the largest, fastest and most reliable carrier for suspects who trafficked scores of women and children. The RPF personnel had a pan-India presence and were deployed in escorting trains to provide security to railway assets and passengers.
• As part of “Operation AAHT”, the infrastructure and intelligence network of the force could be utilized to collect, collate and analyze clues on victims, source, route, destination, popular trains used by suspects, identity of carriers/agents, kingpins etc and shared with other law-enforcing agencies. The RPF could act as a bridge cutting across States to assist the local police in the mission to curb the menace.

SOURCE: The Hindu

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