Though secular establishments are busy dismissing the nefarious nexus of grooming jihad by Islamist youths, the number of victimized Hindu women is consistently rising. On May 6 this year, West Bengal police arrested a Muslim man named Safizul Islam under charges of abduction, rape, and trafficking of around 15 women. 

Reports state that Islam, son of Abdul Khaliq who hails from Gossaigaon town in Assam’s Kokrajhar district, mostly used the alias of ‘Raju’ or ‘Rahul Sarkar’ to befriend women and lure them into romantic relationships. After entrapping them under the pretext of love, the accused married multiple women in different parts of West Bengal. 

He would either sell them to other men or traffic them to various locations in lieu of money. The officials took note of this after two reports were lodged at Bhaktingar police station about the disappearance of three women. A similar complaint was registered against Islam at the Siliguri Women’s Police Station.

During the investigation, police discovered that Safizul Islam had established contacts with all the missing women before their sudden disappearance. Gradually it was established that the accused had come to West Bengal from Assam to traffic women from the state. He was wanted in four police stations in West Bengal. A Bengali news website alleges Islam has trapped over 100 young women through this ploy.

Lately, he had also come up with another alias Vicky using which he was about to marry his next victim. But, his evil design was thwarted by the joint efforts of the Bhaktinagar Police and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Siliguri Police Commissionerate. On Friday, May 6, 2022, Safizul Islam was detained from Raniganj in Asansol, along with another accomplice.

According to a statement issued by Siliguri Metropolitan Police ACP (East) Shuvendra Kumar, the accused was remanded to police custody for 14 days. The police have also rescued three victims who Islam had trafficked. Further investigations are underway. As per the latest reports on this case, police officials were working toward filing the charge sheet.