Twenty women 'rescued while being trafficked'

Police yesterday detained 20 women in Chittagong City Gate area suspecting them to be victims of human trafficking.

They were going to the capital from Cox's Bazar to catch a flight to Saudi Arabia today on a domestic help visa, said Sadip Kumar Das, officer-in-charge of Akbar Shah Police Station, qouting the women. They were later sent to Dhaka under police protection for verification of their passports and other documents, he added.

Sadip said the women told police that travel agency officials would give them their passports at the airport.

The OC said the travel agency sent scanned copies of their passports to police. "But we could not verify the scanned copies and informed the immigration authorities," said Sadip, adding that the immigration authorities will verify their documents and take steps accordingly.