Sex Trade Racket: CID looking for cohorts of Azam Khan

Alamin Hossain alias Diamond used to call himself a dance teacher and had been running a so-called dance academy in the capital's Mirpur for the last eight years.

He had some female staffers who were assigned to bring young and underprivileged girls to the academy for "dance practice". Once the girls were in, Alamin would offer them jobs abroad with lucrative pay scheme.

Those who would fall into this trap were taken to meet Azam Khan, the ringleader of the sex-trafficking racket that police recently busted, for "final selection".

After getting confirmation from Azam, his accomplices would manage passports and other documents to send the girls to Dubai.

When the girls would arrive in Dubai, Azam and his two brothers -- Nazim Uddin and Ershad -- sexually abused them and then forced them into sex work.

A high official at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) yesterday claimed to have got these findings about the syndicate that is involved in the trafficking of thousands of Bangladeshi girls to Dubai.

"We got the details after several victims informed us about the process," the officer, who is involved in the investigation, told The Daily Star, requesting anonymity.

The CID on Sunday arrested Azam, Alamin, and another associate Anwar Hossain Moyna. They are now in jail.

Investigators said they got identities of at least seven more close associates of Azam, who owns four hotels in Dubai. They used to "manage" the girls through different brokers across the country.

Asked about it, Imtiaz Ahmed, deputy inspector general of CID, said they have information that these culprits were hiding inside the country and that they were conducting drives to arrest them.

Asked about Azam's brothers, he said they were in Dubai, but the CID was preparing documents to seek help from the Interpol to arrest them.

Meanwhile, the victims, who were confined to Azam's hotels in Dubai and forced into sex work, have started returning home through the assistance of Bangladesh embassy in the United Arab Emirates.

On Saturday, five victims came to Bangladesh from Dubai, said DIG Imtiaz, adding that the CID already communicated with the victims to record their statements.

The CID official said two victims already gave confessional statements against Azam.

A 20-year-old victim filed a case with Lalbagh Police Station on July 2. She told police that she did not receive any payment during her stay in Dubai.

"We have found around 15 cases registered across the country against Azam, but we believe that some more cases might have been filed," Imtiaz said, adding that they were looking for the victims and case details.