Police yesterday rescued 18 people, including women and children, from Bagerhat town when they were being taken to the border in Satkhira to be trafficked to India.

The victims are inhabitants of villages in Morrelganj upazila of the district. The alleged trafficker, Abbas Hawlader, 40, of Chaltebunia village of the same upazila, was held.

A police team stopped a Satkhira-bound flatbed truck from Morrelganj near Dartana bridge around 9:30am, said Sub-Inspector Yunus Ali, in-charge of Bagerhat Sadar police outpost.

The law enforcers then found the victims in the truck. Some of the rescued people told the police that they were going to India in search of good jobs there, the police official said.

Driver and helper of the vehicle were also detained.

"Trafficker" Abbas' job was to collect people from different areas of Bagerhat and Pirojpur and hand them over to other human traffickers in border areas of Satkhira, said Tozammel Haque, officer-in-charge of Bagerhat Model Police Station.

Abbas said he was taking the people to Kalarua border area in Satkhira forTk 5,000 per person (except for the children). Those people could have entered India after they were handed over twice to other traffickers.