With a view to dealing with the issue of human trafficking in a holistic manner, the Andhra Pradesh Government today decided to set up five Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) across the State.
Four of the five units will be set up in districts, including Eluru in West Godavari, Guntur, Anantapur and Karimnagar and one at the Women Protection Cell of the CID here, the Principal Secretary (Home), Mr P. Gautam Kumar, said.
Among other things, the AHTU will deal with three important aspects of trafficking namely, prevention, protection and prosecution.
It will act as a ‘field level functional unit' to address the issue. These units will deal with human trafficking as an ‘organised crime' on the ‘basket of crimes' concept (involving offences of wrongful restraint, wrongful confinement, selling and buying minors for prostitution, begging, bonded labour, gang rape, subjecting women and children to commercial sexual exploitation etc), a Government notification said.