Islampur police in North Dinajpur have dismantled an extensive cross-border human trafficking network and have rescued 41 victims, including 39 minor girls and two adult women, over a span of 48 hours.
The breakthrough came following a two-month stealth surveillance operation spearheaded by the Association for Voluntary Action (AVA) and Kosi Lok Manch (KLM), both partner organisations of Just Rights for Children (JRC), India’s largest child rights network, said sources.
“The first raid was conducted on July 3, when a police team reached an establishment in Champabag, the red light area in Islampur and rescued 17 minor girls,” said a source.
Among those rescued, 13 were from Bihar, three from Bengal and one from Assam. The youngest among them is just 11 years old.
The police had used drones to monitor exit routes during the raid and arrested four alleged traffickers at the scene, while some escaped.
The quartet was interrogated and based on the information they revealed, the police conducted another raid in the same area on July 5. This follow-up operation led to the rescue of 22 minor girls and two adult women
“The rescued children, who have since been produced before the child welfare committee (CWC) and moved to safe shelter homes, narrated harrowing accounts of abuse. The victims revealed they were forced to service eight to ten clients daily under severe duress, receiving no financial support from the operators,” said Rishi Kant, a social activist and child rights campaigner.
Police said that the traffickers systematically target transport hubs in Bihar, such as Darbhanga, Begusarai, Ara, Patna, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi and Kishanganj.
Rather than employing physical force, syndicates use psychological manipulation at busy railway stations and bus terminals, scouting for distressed, hungry or unaccompanied minors.
“The rescue of such a large number of minor girls from a single site of commercial sexual exploitation reflects the deep-rooted and widespread nature of human trafficking networks. The trafficking of girls as young as 11 and 12 from Bihar and Assam and their forced sexual exploitation is a horrifying reality,” Kant added.
The four accused have been booked under anti-trafficking laws and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Multi-state police teams are on high alert to track down the absconding perpetrators, a source said.
