Imphal, Oct. 1: Eight girls trafficked from Manipur and rescued in Myanmar's Yangon recently were brought home yesterday via Calcutta. They are undergoing counselling and rehabilitation.

The girls, between 17 and 28 years of age, were brought from Calcutta by officials of the state social welfare department, Child Line, Bishnupur district, and officials of Churachandpur district. The girls hail from Churachandpur district, which shares a border with Myanmar.

The girls were about to be taken to Singapore when they were rescued by Impulse Care Info Centre, a global network working against trafficking with the help of Myanmar police. Impulse coordinated with its Shillong unit, official sources said.

The raid leading to the rescue of the girls in the second week of September was carried out after information was provided by the Manipur government through the Indian embassy in Myanmar that some girls from Churachandpur were trafficked to Myanmar.

The incident came to light after a special investigation team of Churachandpur police rescued two minors who were to be taken to Myanmar by some local agents of an international trafficking gang in the first week of September.

A local man involved in the incident was arrested at Moreh, Manipur's border township in Tengnoupal district.

Official sources said the girls were promised jobs in Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries.

'At the moment we do not know how the eight girls reached Yangon and who took them there. We are investigating,' an official source said. No one was arrested when the girls were rescued from a Yangon hotel.

The source said nothing could be ascertained from the girls as they are all confused and in shock. Preliminary questioning revealed the girls were to be taken to Singapore to work as domestic help, the official said.

'The girls will be given extensive counselling before they are handed over to their parents. Their guardians will also be counselled,' the official said.

Child Line director L. Pishak said increasing cases of human trafficking from the Northeast, particularly from Manipur, was a cause for serious concern. He demanded the state government to step up vigil to bust trafficking gangs and prevent girls from being trafficked.

'Many cases go undetected. This has encouraged traffickers. So there is the need to step up vigil,' Pishak said.

Sources said the parents of the trafficked girls are underprivileged, who cannot send their children to school.

Following the rescue, the state police headquarters has alerted all police stations.