Siliguri Metropolitan Police rescued 34 young women, who are from different places of north Bengal, from the Pradhannagar area of Siliguri on Sunday.

They were on their way to Tamil Nadu via Jharkhand, reportedly to take up jobs. Cops suspect the girls were about to be trafficked under the pretext of jobs in a garment factory.

Three persons, including a woman, were arrested in this connection.

“The Pradhannagar police station received information that some women were on their way to Tamil Nadu on the pretext of employment. Working on the information, we rescued 34 women from Pradhannagar yesterday (Sunday). Three persons, who are suspected to be traffickers, have been arrested,” said Biswachand Thakur, the deputy commissioner (east) of Siliguri Metropolitan Police, on Monday.

Among the arrested trio, two are from Siliguri, while the third is from the Matiali block of Jalpaiguri district.

During the initial investigation, the police learnt that the trio had booked a bus for the girls.

“They were supposed to reach Ranchi by bus and then board a train to head for Tamil Nadu. Some documents have also been recovered from them, and our officers are trying to verify their authenticity,” said a source.

The girls are from different locations in the Dooars, including Alipurduar, Kalchini, Nagrakata and Matiali.

The police have handed them over to their parents.

“We have initiated a probe to find out whether the trio are associated with a trafficking racket and whether the girls were at all supposed to be provided with proper jobs as they have claimed,” a police officer said, adding that the women were aged between
20 and 30.

“We regularly conduct sensitisation programmes to prevent human trafficking in the region,” he said.

On July 22, personnel of the Government Railway Police posted in the New Jalpaiguri railway station rescued 56 young women from a train. In that case, the women had claimed they had been offered jobs in Bengaluru. Two alleged traffickers had been arrested in that case. A probe is on.