When Tamil Nadu police rescued over 900 victims of forced prostitution in Bombay and brought them back home Premium

Largest rescue operation by Tamil Nadu police in Bombay brothels, hundreds of women saved, special train home.

In the summer of 1990, a special police team of the Tamil Nadu Crime Branch-CID (CB-CID) stormed brothels in Bombay (now Mumbai), and with the help of the local police, rescued hundreds of women forced into prostitution. The number of victims was so large that the Indian Railways was persuaded to run a special train to bring them home. This remains the largest such rescue operation by the State CB-CID police outside of Tamil Nadu.

It all started in 1989 with a representation by ‘Savdhan’, a Maharashtra-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) with its branch in Chennai, to the Tamil Nadu Police that many women from different parts of the State had been trafficked to Maharashtra and held captive in the brothels there. The then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi directed the CB-CID to verify the veracity of the complaint and act swiftly if found true.

On October 24, 1989, the CB-CID deputed a team led by Mir Shoukath Ali, one of its best inspectors, to visit the suspected locations in Bombay to discreetly investigate the allegation. To its utter shock, the team found more than 600 Tamil women engaged in prostitution in the localities of Sonapur, Naya Sonapur, and Kamatipura, says a CB-CID report published in a police journal. Some transpersons had converted a few streets into red light areas with the trafficked women confined to rows of houses.

Inquiries with the local people revealed that the women were forced into prostitution, and those who attempted to escape were thrashed and tortured by the brothel keepers.

On his return, Mr. Shoukath Ali submitted his report on the plight of the Tamil Nadu women and how they were being exploited in Bombay. He informed his superiors that he met some senior police officers who assured him of all assistance from the Bombay Police in rescuing the victims.

The State government took a decision to raid the brothels, rescue the victims, and bring them home. A strategy was chalked out and explained to a special team on the operating procedures in another State. The stage was set to launch a massive anti-prostitution operation in Bombay.

On May 24, 1990, a total of 67 police personnel, including 22 women, led by A. Appusamy, Assistant Commissioner of Police, boarded the Dadar Express to Bombay.