By NewsGram Staff Writer

The Karnataka police have set up anti-human trafficking squads in nine districts to check human trafficking.

While responding to a question in Legislative Council, Karnataka Home minister K J George said that anti-human trafficking squads have been formed in districts of Bangalore Urban, Mysore, Dharwad, Belagavi, Dakshina Kannada, Raichur, Vijayapura, Davanagere, and Kalaburagi according a report published in Vijayavaani newspaper, a Kannada daily.

The minister further said that a total of 656 cases of human trafficking have been registered from 2013 till date and 2,354 people have been arrested in these cases. In 2015 alone, 151 cases have been registered and a total of 423 people have been rescued that includes 30 men, 252 women and 141 children.

The question about human trafficking was raised by BJP's Vimala Gowda, who raised concerns about practices like "Gujjar ki Shaadi", wherein young girls are sold off to agents in the pretext of marriage and later these agents sell these girls into prostitution hubs.

According to this report, 27 women and children go missing or get kidnapped every day in the state. Out of 14,361 missing people between January 2014 and May 2015, only 11,283 people have been traced or have returned home.