Hyderabad: In a major move to enhance its efforts in combating human trafficking and protecting children, the Hyderabad City Police launched the newly constituted Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU), Juvenile Bureau (JB) Unit, and a first-of-its-kind Victim Assistance Unit (VAU) in Telangana.
The Hyderabad city police commissioner CV Anand inaugurated the unit at the Central Crime Station (CCS), Hyderabad. Victim Assistance Unit (VAU) was established in collaboration with Prajwala NGO, which was also launched.
This reorganization follows GO 32, Home (Legal) Department, which initially placed the AHTU under the Women Safety Wing, Hyderabad. Subsequently, GO 57, formally constituted these specialized wings with dedicated sanctioned strengths.
The AHTU has been formally constituted with a sanctioned strength of 8 personnel including – 1 Inspector, 2 Sub-Inspectors, 2 Head Constables, and 3 Police Constables. The unit is tasked for curbing the trafficking of women and children, including -identifying trafficking hotspots in both physical and online domains, gathering actionable intelligence to facilitate timely rescue operations, monitoring individuals involved in trafficking networks such as pimps, touts, brothel operators, and customers, conducting pre-rescue, rescue, and post-rescue operations, following up on pending trial cases to ensure justice, conducting raids to apprehend traffickers and facilitating the repatriation of Indian victims to their home states and the deportation of foreign nationals.
As of 2025, the AHTU has filed 23 cases, 44 victims were rescued, and 71 accused arrested.
Additionally, the Juvenile Bureau Team / Special Juvenile Police Unit has been formally constituted with a sanctioned strength of 7 personnel, comprising 1 Inspector, 2 SIs, 2 HCs, and 2 PCs. Based at the Central Crime Station, Hyderabad, the JB Team’s primary responsibility is to protect children from atrocities such as child labor, human trafficking, and bonded labor. The JB/SJPU Team works in coordination with the Child Welfare Committee to repatriate missing or traced juveniles to their respective homes throughout India.
This year, the JB unit successfully repatriated four children within the state and 7 children to other states. Additionally, under the Operation Smile and Operation Muskaan programmes, 896 children were rescued.
The first-of-its-kind Victim Assistance Unit (VAU), center in Telangana plays a crucial role in supporting victims of immoral human trafficking. The VAU aims to help victims recall their exploitation in a trauma-informed manner, prepare them to depose evidence confidently and without fear during court proceedings, facilitate access to government schemes, legal aid, rehabilitation benefits, and psychosocial support and Aid victims in their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
