Alipurduar girl rescued from brothel

TT,Siliguri, Oct. 26: A 19-year-old girl from Alipurduar was rescued from a red light area in Khalpara here last night by an anti-trafficking organisation and police after an anonymous caller told her father about her whereabouts.

The girl had gone missing on October 21.

“We came to know she was confined in a brothel at Khalpara. Recently, an anonymous caller told her father over the phone about her location prompting police to take steps,” said a representative of the organisation, Shakti Vahini.

Last night, officers from Alipurduar and Siliguri metropolitan police, along with volunteers from Shakti Vahini, rescued the girl.

“During counselling, she said she had come here with a youth who had proposed marriage,” said a source.

Suraj Chatterjee had established contact with the girl by making a phone call and apologising for calling a wrong number.

“Later, they befriended each other and got into a relationship. On October 19, the youth asked the girl to meet him at Alipurduar station. They went to Cooch Behar and stayed there for a couple of days. Suraj introduced the girl to one Jhunu Mondal, who he said was his aunt. Jhunu is a trafficker and allegedly runs a brothel at Khalpara. On October 21, the girl came to Khalpara,” said the source.

The girl who wrote the higher secondary exam this year has been handed over to the police.

O.G. Pal, deputy commissioner of Siliguri metropolitan police, said: “A complaint was filed after the girl went missing. No arrests have been made so far.”