Teens saved from traffickers' clutches

Policemen escort some of the arrested suspected traffickers at a court in Jalpaiguri
on Tuesday. Picture by Biplab Basak

TT, Jalpaiguri: Two minor girls from a tea estate in the Dooars lured with job offers and allegedly being trafficked to Kashmir were rescued on Monday, a day after being reported missing.

Five persons, including a woman, suspected to be part of a trafficking racket have been arrested. The girls, aged around 16, were saved from a house under Banarhat police station.

"We came to know that four traffickers were with the girls. They had taken the girls to Dhupguri railway station but seeing our men (cops), they left the place and went to Gayerkata. From there, the girls were taken to a house in Nathua," said an officer.

After being rescued, the girls have told the police that the traffickers had befriended them and promised lucrative jobs.

"Only after they were taken to the house in Nathua and kept in a locked room did the girls realise they had been trapped," said the officer.

On Monday , Seema Chowdhury, an honorary wildlife warden, went to Nathua as part of a raid with some forest officials. "As we were visiting the area, some locals told us that they had been hearing sounds of women wailing from a house. I went near the house and heard somebody crying," said Chowdhury.

She called up Bipul Sinha, the inspector-in-charge of Banarhat police station. "I suspected that something is wrong there. Otherwise, why would girls keep crying in relentlessly," Chowdhury said.

Inspector Sinha acted on the tip-off and soon, a joint police team from Dhupguri and Banarhat police stations reached the spot.

"Our team rescued the girls and arrested the house owner and his wife. Later, raids were conducted in some other places and five persons in all were arrested. We are collecting more information about the racket," said Amitabha Maiti, SP, Jalpaiguri.

Those arrested include house owner Shanta Bahadur Chhetri and wife Maya, and Koshti Nag, Swapan Khatowar and Akash Roy. All are residents of Gayerkata and adjoining areas in the Dooars.