State tops human trafficking cases in 2012-13: Report..... West Bengal accounts for 486 cases, followed by Bihar with 193 cases and Assam which has 129 such cases.

ENS, Kolkata: A 2013 annual report of National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) identified West Bengal with the highest number of cases of human trafficking in the year 2012-13. 

According to the report, Bengal shares at least 40 per cent of the total cases of procuration of minor girls in the country while the state has at least 69 per cent of the total cases of selling girls for prostitution. 

The NCRB bulletin states that a total of 1,224 cases were reported across the country in 2013 under section 366A of the IPC (procreation of minor girls) compared with 809 in 2012, thus showing an increase of 51.3 per cent. 

Of these, West Bengal accounts for 486 cases, followed by Bihar with 193 cases and Assam which has 129 such cases. 

The report also revealed that Bengal accounts for 69 of 100 cases of selling of girls for prostitution in the country, reported under under section 372 of the IPC. Significantly, three regions — Sundarbans in South and North-24 Paragana, Darjeeling and tea garden areas of Terai and Dooars region— are believed to be the most vulnerable in terms of human trafficking. 

According to police reports, 316 minor girls were missing in 2014 from the Terai-Dooars region, of which 280 have been recovered. 

In 2013, the number of missing minor girls was pegged at 381. 

Similarly, more than 1000 minor girls were found missing in Sundarbans in 2013-14, according to government reports.