Volunteers of NGO Childline, which works with railway police to prevent trafficking from the station, on Friday rescued eight tribal girls from Gumla, including six minors, from a couple who were taking them to New Delhi with the aim of deputing them as domestic helps.

The girls, aged between 12 and 19 years, were brought to Ranchi from Jari village in Dumri block, Gumla, by Margaret Kujur alias Manisha Prajapati (35) and Ramsuraj Prajapati (45).

The couple, with the eight girls, reached Ranchi around 11.30am and sat at platform 1 of the station, waiting for the Hatia-Jammu Tawi Express, scheduled to depart at 3.29pm.

However, a couple of hours before, around 1.30pm, Childline volunteers became suspicious about the group.

Intelligence reports had come their way that traffickers had gone off with some Gumla girls.

A few casual questions to the girls confirmed that these were the same Gumla victims.

"Immediately, we sent information to Gumla's anti-human trafficking unit and alerted railway police which arrested the couple," said Ignatious Kerketta, the coordinator of Childline at Ranchi railway station.

The minor girls, who were between 12 and 16 years of age, were produced before Ranchi district child welfare committee and then sent to Premashray, a shelter in Chutia, for counselling. The two adult victims, both aged around 19, were sent to Gumla with the arrested Prajapati couple in the evening.

Childline member Meera Mishra said a case of human trafficking would be registered at Gumla for further legal action.