Staff Reporter:
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police has arrested three members of an alleged human trafficking gang for deceiving job seekers with false promises of employment in Jordan.
The arrestees were identified as Manjur Pradhania, 35, Osman Gani, 25, of Chandpur district, and Kazi Md Ata-e-Rabbi, 28, of Lakshmipur district.
A team of CID’s Trafficking in Human Being (THB) Unit conducted a drive at Surah Travels and Trad-ers, located at Rupayan Millennium Square in Uttar Badda of the capital, on Sunday and arrested them, according to a press release.
According to CID officials, preliminary investigations revealed that Surah Travels and Traders had been using the name, logo and seal of Jordan-based Jerash Garments and Fashion Manufacturing Company Limited, located in Al-Tajamouat Industrial Estate in Amman, without authorisation to recruit workers for Jordan.
The agency allegedly collected between Tk 2 lakh and Tk 2.5 lakh from each aspiring worker by offer-ing employment visas and job opportunities in Jordan.
The alleged fraud came to light after the Jordanian company lodged a complaint through the Bangladesh Embassy in Jordan.
The complaint was later forwarded to the relevant authorities through the Ministry of Expatriates’ Wel-fare and Overseas Employment, prompting the CID to launch an investigation.
Investigators found that though Surah Travels and Traders operates as a travel agency, it does not possess a valid recruiting licence.
Despite this, the company had reportedly been advertising overseas job opportunities in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Malaysia through its Facebook page.
During the raid, the CID team seized 55 Bangladeshi passports, 16 overseas employment agreements executed on non-judicial stamps, two CPUs and one DVR from the office.
Of the seized passports, 18 were found to belong to individuals seeking employment in Jordan, while the remaining passports were linked to prospective workers intending to travel to Saudi Arabia, according to the preliminary investigation.
CID officials said evidence gathered so far suggests that the accused had been collecting passports and processing overseas employment arrangements without the required licences and approvals, raising sus-picions of migrant smuggling activities.
A case was filed at Badda Police Station under Sections 15 and 20 of the Human Trafficking and Mi-grant Smuggling Prevention and Suppression Ordinance, 2026.
The CID said efforts are underway to identify and arrest other persons involved in the alleged scheme.
