Choreographer Ivan arrested over sex trafficking allegation

Dancer and choreographer Ivan Shahriar Sohag has been arrested for his alleged involvement with a racket that traffics women to Dubai. 

The Dhaka Metro North division of the CID nabbed him from Niketon area on friday night, Sheikh Md Rezaul Haider, additional deputy inspector general (DIG) of the CID said.

He is set to be produced before a Dhaka court on Saturday.

CID officials said that they arrested the ringleader and two other members of a human trafficking ring that forced young women into prostitution in Dubai after trafficking them as tourists.

The ringleader was identified as Azam . During interrogation, Azam gave some information on “his cohorts.”

One Md Yasin who was arrested over a human trafficking case filed with Lalbagh police station on July 2 in his confessional statement at the court on July 20 also spoke about Ivan Shahriar's involvement with sex trafficking to Dubai.

He also said that he alone sent more than 100 girls to Dubai. 

Yasin, in his statement, also told the court that he had two dance academies named Modern and Nirmal Dance Academy is Narayanganj.

The academies used to provide performers at social events like gaye holud (turmeric ceremony), wedding and birthday parties. 

Yasin came across someone named Azam on an occasion and he proposed Yasin to visit his academies. 

Later, Azom and another person named Russel visited Yasin's dance academy in Narayanganj. 

Azom told Yasin that he had four dance clubs in Dubai and the artistes of the dance academies can avail jobs there. 

In Dubai, Azam has four hotels — Hotel Fortune Royal, Fortune Grand Hotel, City Tower Hotel and Fortune Pearl Hotel and Dance Club. The first three of these are four-star standard, said the CID sources.

"As you run two dance clubs, you may know Apurba, Akter, Sohag and Goutam," Azom asked Yasin, adding that these people are big fishes in Dhallywood and they all work for famous actresses.

Azom promised Tk50,000 monthly salary to the dance academy girls if they go to Dubai. Being lured, some girls gave their passport details to Najim.

Two girls initially left Dhaka for Dubai and Yasin got Tk30,000 for them. Just after three months, the duo returned home since they were forced into sex-trafficking abroad and never got the promised salary.

In the meantime, Yasin started receiving more and more orders of sending girls for social events, foreign club dancers and YouTube performances. 

He brought the girls to the clients, received money for each girl and returned to Narayanganj.

"When I checked back on the girls, they have supplied for nearly two to three years. I got no trace of the girls after that. All of the girls might have ended into sex trafficking in Dubai," confessed Yasin.

CID said that Ivan was part of the sex trafficking racket.

CID filed a case with Lalbagh Police Station on July 2, with Azam Khan and others shown as arrested in the case.