Kochi: Kerala Police have arrested three accused, including a priest from Kerala, in connection with the trafficking of 12 girls from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The priest's name is Rev Jacob Varghese and he is 55 years old. Jacob is the director of the Karuna Bhavan Charitable Trust in Perumbavoor (Ernakulam) and pastor of the Pentecostal Church. A case has been registered against him along with two agents under section 370 (1) (2) (3) (4) (human trafficking) of IPC.
According to the report, Jacob Varghese, arrested in a human trafficking case, is accused of trying to illegally take minor girls from Rajasthan to Ernakulam along with two agents. The accused priest was bringing 12 minor girls to Kerala on Wednesday (27 July 2022) by Okha-Ernakulam Express. Taking action on the basis of secret input, Railway Protection Force and Railway Police stopped him at Kozhikode railway station.
During checking in the train, six adults were also found along with the minor girls. Of these, four adults are said to be parents of two girls. Two youths from Rajasthan Lokesh Kumar (29) and Shyam Lal (25) were also involved with these girls and the priest. Suspecting the youths reaching the railway station, the co-travellers informed the police. After which the Kozhikode Railway Police arrested Lokesh and Shyam by registering a case of human trafficking under Section 370 of the IPC.
The police got information about the priest from the youth itself. During interrogation, the parents and youths present with the girls told that they were going to Karunabhavan Charitable Trust in Perumbavoor. Later, the priest Jacob was taken into custody by the Kuruppampadi police in Ernakulam and handed over to the Kozhikode Railway Police on Thursday. He was produced before the Kozhikode Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-I, from where the court sent him to judicial custody for 14 days.
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