HIGHLIGHTS:
- Railway Protection Force has initiated Operation AAHT.
- It will primarily target trains that originate in border nations.
- The major goal of the operation will be to save women and children from human traffickers.
To combat human trafficking, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) has initiated Operation AAHT. It will primarily target trains that originate in border nations. The Ministry of Railways is in charge of the operation. The RPF is governed by the Ministry of Railways.
About the AAHT Operation
RPF Special Forces would be deployed in long-distance trains as part of the operation. The major goal of the operation will be to save women and children from human traffickers. Every train operated by Indian Railways will be subjected to the operation. In total, Indian Railways runs 21,000 trains. Railways are the most reliable route of transit for traffickers, according to RPF.
How will the operation be conducted?
Under the operation, the RPF will collect, collate and analyze clues. The information of routes, victims, sources, destination, popular trains are to be collected. The RPF will utilize its full intelligence in the operation. The details collected will be shared with the other law enforcing agencies. The RPF will assist the local police and will act as a bridge in inter –state operations. The operation will look for digital footprints of human trafficking. Cyber cells are to be created. More focus is to be given to trains originating from Myanmar, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Background
Between 2017 and 2021, the RPF rescued over 2,000 women from human traffickers’ hands. Every year, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, 2,200 new human trafficking cases are submitted. The UNTOC was approved by the Government of India in 2011. The United Nations Conventions against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) is an acronym for United Nations Conventions Against Transnational Organized Crime. Human trafficking is prevented, suppressed, and punished by the UNTOC protocol.
The operation’s requirement
Human trafficking mostly targets women and children for sexual exploitation, domestic slavery, and forced marriages. Human trafficking occurs for a variety of reasons, including organ transplantation, drug servitude, and so on .People that has been trafficked are treated as slaves. They are also trafficked for circus employment, begging, illegal adoptions, and the entertainment industry, among other things.
