18 trafficked women rescued in Delhi
New Delhi, July 31: The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Tuesday rescued 18 women, aged 18-30 years, who had become victims of human trafficking. Most of them belong to Nepal.
The Nepal Embassy "is being contacted" for their repatriation.
The Commission, in a statement, said an operation was conducted with the support of Uttar Pradesh Police in Varanasi which had registered an FIR on July 23 on some girls from Nepal were being taken to Delhi to be sold to Gulf countries for prostitution.
An Uttar Pradesh Police team came to Delhi and raided a house in Maidan Garhi where the girls were kept, said a statement.
At least 68 Nepali passports were recovered from the house.
DCW chief Swati Maliwal, who was informed about the report, reached the spot and tried to interact with the girls who initially didn't speak up.
"After counselling, they opened up and said they had been brought to Delhi for jobs," according to the Commission.
They are poor and belong to the earthquake-affected regions of Nepal. Most of them had lost their homes and families.
Last week, in two separate incidents, DCW rescued 16 Nepali girls who were about to be trafficked to Gulf countries.
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Huge fire at Prayagraj tent supplier warehouse, brought under control after six hours
Prayagraj (PTI): A huge fire broke out in the warehouse of a company, which supplied tenting materials for the recently-concluded Maha Kumbh, at the Parade Ground early on Saturday, officials said and added the blaze was brought under control after six hours.
While there was no loss of life, two officers and five employees of the fire department suffered minor burn injuries while dousing the flames at the Lallu Ji and Tent Company warehouse in the Daraganj area, they said.
Rajiv Kumar Pandey, Prayagraj's chief fire officer, said the blaze was completely controlled.
He said 18 water tenders, including four from the army, were pressed into service to extinguish the blaze that erupted early on Saturday. These also included 10 water tenders called in from Handia, Meja and Soraon.
He added that he himself, another officer and five employees suffered minor burn injuries while extinguishing the fire.
Pandey said the efforts of the firefighting personnel led to tent material and bamboo sticks worth crores of rupees in many nearby warehouses being saved.
Four municipal corporation vehicles were deployed for sprinkling water to protect the nearby godowns. At the same time, 20 employees were evacuated from the burning warehouse.
Pandey said the surrounding settlements, including a slum, were also saved from the fire.
The fire caused four LPG cylinders to explode while two scooters parked on the warehouse premises were burnt to ashes.
District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Mandar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (City) Abhishek Bharti and other senior officers present on the spot coordinated the firefighting efforts.
Several companies supplying tenting materials built their warehouses at Kali Marg of Parade Ground for the Maha Kumbh. After the congregation ended, tenting materials were removed from the fair area and stored in these warehouses.
