Women rescued by police in Raxaul. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, May 19: Bihar has set up three human trafficking cells at Tirhut, Magadh and Patna. The move perhaps makes Bihar the only state in the country to have set up cells along the India-Nepal border to check the rampant cases of human trafficking.

Inspector generals (IGs) of police have been appointed as nodal officers to monitor the operation against gangs involved in the illegal trade.

Sources in the state police headquarters said anti-human trafficking cells were working in tandem with different social and non-governmental organisations in the bordering areas of the state particularly on the India-Nepal border.

“Bihar is the only state in the country, which has taken initiatives to curb human trafficking on such a large scale. Anti-human trafficking cells are currently functional in three divisions of Bihar,” said Suman Paswan, secretary of Dalit Mahila Jan Kalyan Santhan.

The organisation has been assigned to work under Raxaul, Sugauli and Narkatiaganj sub-divisions in East Champaran district located on the India-Nepal border.

The cell headed by IG, Tirhut range, Gupteshwar Pandey, has rescued 214 persons — 62 Nepalese males and 114 females — from the Raxaul border alone in the first three months this year.

A look at the number of the persons rescued by the police with the help of social organisations on the porous international border, however, shows a disconcerting trend. The number of Nepalese males and females being trafficked to India has gone up as compared to previous years.

Statistics available with the anti-human trafficking cells revealed that in 2008 altogether 83 Nepalese women and 51 men were rescued. In 2009 a total 81 Nepalese females and 61 males were freed from the clutches of the human traffickers.

In 2010, the number went up to 114 and 62 respectively. Till March 2011 a total 76 Nepalese female and 55 male have rescued. “The demand of Nepalese girls and women is high as compared to Indian girls. The Nepalese girls belonging to the hilly terrain of that country are in great demand in Kuwait, Oman and other Arab countries,” said Paswan.

He said Nepalese girls were lured by members of the gang and brought to India on the pretext of providing them lucrative jobs. They were subjected to sexual exploitation and then sold off in red light areas in Calcutta, Delhi and Agra (in Uttar Pradesh), he added.

The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel had busted a gang involved in human trafficking last year and also arrested few of its members. The SSB officials, who have been assigned to guard the border, were stunned to know that the girls were provided visas for Arab countries for tour and not for job purposes.

One of the seven girls rescued by the SSB last year, had revealed the names of some senior police officials and politicians staying in Delhi and other metropolitan cities who used to get in touch with them quite often.