Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at the inauguration of the CID’s anti-trafficking unit on Thursday. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

With gullible women and children from the state falling prey to traffickers, the government has rolled out a special cell — Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) — under the aegis of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to counter the menace.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee inaugurated the unit at a function in Bhabani Bhavan on Thursday morning.

“Trafficking is a global problem. It should not be considered a job of some officers in the unit. All senior officers should take this problem seriously,” said Bhattacharjee, addressing an audience that included representatives of the CID and some government departments, and NGOs.

The chief minister dodged the issue of the high rate of human trafficking from Bengal — in 2006, it was among the top states in trafficking — but stressed the need to create opportunities for the people to stop trafficking.

“We have to deal with the problems of poverty, illiteracy and backwardness,” said the chief minister, rolling out the agenda of his government.

Various research projects have highlighted that people from the backward areas are vulnerable to traffickers, who lure them with job opportunities or marriage promises.

But in most cases, these people are taken out of the state and end up as sex workers.

So, Bhattacharjee asked his men in uniform — specially trained and equipped to apprehend traffickers and rescue victims — to criss-cross the state to keep the traffickers at bay and help the rescued people resettle.

According to police data, in four different operations conducted in the past three months, 20 traffickers were arrested and 14 child victims rescued.