Rapid Action Battalion today said they held eight members of a gang that used to traffic women to different dance clubs and bars in countries in Middle East Asia.

They were held from different parts of the city following drives conducted by the elite force, Alep Uddin, additional superintendent of police of Rab-11, told The Daily Star.

The arrestees, Shahab Uddin (37), proprietor of Dhanshiri Travel Agency, Ridoy Ahmed (35), Md Mamun (24), Swapan Hossain (20), Md Shipan (22), Rizvi Hossain (27), Musa alias Jibon (28), and Shilpi Akhter (27) were held from Keraniganj and other parts of the city.

Rab also rescued two women and recovered 39 passports, 66 passport photocopies, 18 air tickets, and 19 mobile phones, the Rab official said.

“Shahab had direct links with different dance clubs and bars in Middle East. He used to traffic women with false promises of getting them jobs abroad,” he said.

“The seven others worked as his agents,” the officer said, adding, women aged between 15 and 25 were their primary targets.

The Rab official also said, the gang had trafficked a few hundred women over the last two years.