The girls, aged between 19 and 33 years, were travelling on three-month tourist visas. Six of the girls, whose identity have not been made public, were about to travel to Malaysia, while one was Dubai-bound. It is illegal to work in most countries on tourist visa.

 

“The girls were arrested because they could not prove they were tourists. They had insufficient foreign currency and no hotel reservation,” said DIG Narayan Bastakoti at the airport.

Preliminary investigation suggests the involvement of several high profile people, airline company staff and immigration staff in trafficking. 

 

Police have not revealed the names of the accused saying it could disrupt investigation. However, two lower level middlemen, Lalit Maharjan of Lalitpur and Rajan Subedi of Galileo Travels, Hattisar, have been arrested. The duo was possibly involved in selecting the women and channelling them to traffickers, police said.

Police sources say activities like these were common in the past while government officials at the airport would turn a blind eye under the influence money from rackets run by people having links with top politicians and police officials.

 

After their arrest, the girls were asked to establish cell phone contact with agents involved in the trafficking. The girls found that agents in Nepal, Malaysia and Dubai were angry that they were not given passage from the airport even after assurances that the “setting” was perfect. Maharjan and Subedi were arrested on the basis of the telephone conversation.

 

Police say the catch word “setting” is of special importance, and possibly refers to the nexus at the airport created by criminals and government officials.It is rumoured that the cost of sending a person illegally from the airport is Rs 11,000. It is the very “setting” which allows them to do so, police said.“We have got clues and evidence that an organised way of trafficking women through this “setting” is rife. We will spare no one involved in the racket,” said DIG Bastakoti.

 

Police also arrested 15 foreign employment seekers, who were travelling to Qatar and Dubai without approval from the Department of Labour, from the airport on Saturday. Police record at the airport shows 200 such travellers have been turned back in the last two days.