Many families have fallen into the clutches of human trafficking syndicates. Titol Sardar (23), an expatriate from Libya, went missing last December while immigrating to Italy illegally. He had a dream to go to Italy, a European country, to earn a good income and bring prosperity to his family. The income as a laborer is low in the war-torn country Libya. So the broker enticed him to enter Italy with a small fee.
Titol's home is in West Alipur village, under the Kalkini police station in Madaripur district. His father's name is Mannan Sardar. He has been living in Libya for two years. The nine others had contracted to go on the same boat with him. All are residents of Madaripur's Kalkini Upazila and expatriates from Libya. Out of a total of 10 people, three are currently missing. The remaining seven survived but are currently being held hostage by a trafficking ring in Tunisia. According to the agreement, the families of each of the 10 people who wanted to become immigrants paid money to Libyan expatriate Sohel Sepai's associates who live in Bangladesh. They paid a total of Tk 65 lakh and each of them paid Tk. 6.5 lakh in the first round.
Later, more money was taken from the families of those 10 people. The total amount of money paid is Tk 1 crore, 25 lakhs. This money was paid in cash, a bank account, and a Bkash account. The families of those 10 have also saved all the records of payment. This money will be paid from June to November 2023. After that, the real picture came out. Sohail Sepai ran away. None of the victims, who were willing to be immigrants, could go to Italy.
Additionally, Sohail Sepai is not giving any information about the three missing persons. Humayun, one of Sohail's associates in Tunisia, is demanding another 4 lakh taka per person for sending the remaining 7 hostages in Tunisia to Italy and for their accommodation and food expenses. The home of Humayun is in the Narsingdi district of Bangladesh. Humayun threatened that he would make the remaining seven people disappear if their families didn't pay. In such a situation, Sohail Sepai has cut off contact with the families of the ten victims.
Meanwhile, someone has informed the families of the victims that the kidneys and other valuable organs of the three missing persons have been removed and the bodies thrown into the sea. As a result, there is an unknown fear in the family of three missing people. Their parents are anxious to know whether their beloved children are alive or dead. When a man named Jasim Sardar, on behalf of the victim's family, went to Kalkini police station for legal assistance last January, the police did not take a case against Sohel and the other accused persons. However, Abdullah Al Mamun, the officer in charge of the police station, said, "You will see it later" and left the documents to prove the complaint and all the attached information.
Who is this Sohel Sepai?
One of the leaders of the brokers is Sohel Sepai (35), a long-time expatriate from Libya. His house is in Malatkandi (Gopalpur) village of Bhedarganj police station in Shariatpur district. He is the eldest son of Ali Azgar Sepai of that village. Sohail has long been involved in human trafficking syndicates from Libya. He took a contract to send people from Libya to Italy in Europe. At one point, Sohail's father, Ali Azgar Sepai, who is in the country, and his son, Sohel, who is in Libya, finalized the contract by engaging in online calls with Titol's family through social media.
According to the agreement, Sohel has to pay Tk 650,000 to take Titol from Libya to Italy. In the first installment, Tk 5 lakh was given to Sohel's father, Ali Azgar Sepai. Then Sohel's ruse was revealed. Sohel told Titol and his family that only one person could be taken to Italy. A few others should be taken along. Titol's father, Mannan Sardar, informed his brother, Jasim Sardar. Titol talked to his expatriate relatives in Libya and arranged for nine more people. Then the people involved in Sohel's syndicate took money from the families of those ten people in turn.
Before finalizing the deal, Sohel's father, Ali Azgar Sepai, and his other son, Jewel Sepai (27), who is in Bangladesh, went to the house of Titol's father Mannan Sardar, and his brother, Jasim Sardar. Sohel's wife, Swapna Begum (30), was included in this process to build the capacity and credibility to take Italy.
Written complaint to the police station
According to the written complaint filed by Jasim Sardar at Kalkini Police Station on behalf of all the victims, the total number of accused is six. They are Sohel Sepai, his brother Jewel Sepai, their father, Ali Azgar Sepai, and Sohel's wife Swapna Begum, of East Alipur village of Kalkini Police Station of Madaripur, and Hakim Hawlader's son Saiful Hawlader and his accomplice Al Amin, who were involved in the money transaction.
Jasim Sardar went to the Kalkini police station on January 1 to file a written complaint. Abdullah Al Mamun, the officer in charge of the police station, expressed his reluctance to take the complaint as a case on that day and said that such cases are discouraged. However, the officer also said that the matter would be seen after the election (January 7).
Identity of the victims
Written complainant Jasim Sardar told the Khaborer Kagoj that three of the victims were his nephew Ibrahim Sardar, father-Forkan Sardar, Paschim Alipur, Riyad Hossain, father-Jalal Sardar, Char Division, and Shariful Islam, father- Md. Moti Munshi, Laxmipur.
His cousin Shipan Sardar, Father Dhulu Sardar, Paschim Alipur, brother-in-law Anwar Sardar, Father Shukur Sardar, Char Alipur, son of his brother-in-law A. Malek Bepari, father-Anwar Bepari, Char Alipur, cousin Didar Mollah, father-Rupai Mollah, Swasthal, nephew Atiqur Sardar, Father-Ah Jalil Sardar, Banshgari, brother-in-law Yamin Sardar, father-Iqbal Sardar, Kaliganj, and nephew Titol Sardar, Father-A. Mannan Sardar, West Alipur. All ten people are residents of Kalkini police station in Madaripur district and Libyan expatriates.
Identity of three missing persons
Among those 10 people, Jasim Sardar's two nephews, Shariful Islam, father Mo. Moti Munshi from Laxmipur and Titol Sardar, father A. Mannan Sardar from west Paschim Alipur, and brother-in-law Yamin Sardar, father Iqbal Sardar, from Kaliganj, are currently missing.
Money transaction
This money is paid to the Islami Bank Fasciatla Bazar (Kalkini) agent banking branch and about 16 bkash numbers.
The cash was paid to Sohel's father Ali Azgar and wife Swapna, and the money was also paid to the Islami Bank Fasiatala Bazar (Kalkini) agent banking branch and about 16 bkash numbers. The documents for these transactions have been attached to the written complaint filed with the police station.
The current location of Sohel Sepai
After Sohel Sepai cut off contact with the families of the victims, information obtained through an associate of Sohel who was involved in the money transaction process revealed that Sohel entered Bangladesh through Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on January 16. His passport number is EK 0066635.
Acceptance of cases and police action
After contacting us to discuss the need for an investigation, Sajjadur Rahman, Additional Deputy Inspector General (Crime) of Dhaka Range, ordered the officer-in-charge of Kalkini police station to act on the complaint last Monday. At the same time, he asked the police officer to find out whether Sohel was involved with the international human trafficking ring or not.
Sajjadur Rahman also told Khaborer Kagoj in his office on Monday that about 400 people, among those trafficked in the name of employment abroad, have returned from abroad in Greater Faridpur in the last month. All of them were not taken to the police station. A total of 90 percent of these cases have come to the police station with court orders.
"Many people become greedy by making secret contracts and transactions in exchange for a lot of money and lose everything by becoming immigrants. When one realizes that he has been deceived, he goes to the police to seek legal help. At this time, in many cases, the police cannot do anything. If he could have gone abroad successfully, he would not have gone to the police. With the money that he spent to go abroad, he could have lived well in Bangladesh", he added.
