Chakradharpur police in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand rescued 23 girls and three boys, plus two suspected human traffickers, from the Chakradharpur railway station on Sunday afternoon. In a similar development, Chaibasa police rescued eight girls from the Chaibasa bus terminus on Sunday, but the alleged trafficker, a woman, managed to escape. Police revealed details of these rescues in a media briefing on Monday.

Gopi Nath Tiwari, Chakradharpur inspector, said on Monday, “We had a credible tip-off that a large number of girls and boys were being taken away to other states. We immediately launched a search starting from 2pm, and by 4-5pm, we succeeded in rescuing 23 girls in the age group of 18-23 years, and three boys, along with two alleged traffickers from the Tatanagar Alleppey Express. They were being taken to Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu, with the promise of jobs at the Sharada Mills. We have handed over all the rescued girls and boys to the anti-human trafficking unit in Chaibasa late last night.”

Tiwari added that many of the girls looked underage, but all of them claimed that they were above the age of 18 years. “As for the alleged traffickers, [the woman] Damayanti Purty was about 40 years old, while [the man] Basudev Bodra claimed to be 26 years old,” added the inspector.

As per available information, all the 23 girls and three boys hailed from Karaikela, Khuntpani, Domra, Gudasai, Baisai, Rajashkoda, Manjhgaon, Toklo, Tetaipoda, and Budhigoda areas under West Singhbhum district. Some of the girls said that they had gone to Tiruppur earlier, too, for work. Basudev Bodra told the police that he had come to the station to just see off the girls, as his wife and sister were also going to Tamil Nadu with Damayanti Purty.

In Chaibasa, the sadar police rescued eight girls from the local long-distance bus terminus on Sunday, but the alleged woman trafficker fled. Police sources said that six of the rescued girls were minors; two were adults. All of them have now been handed over to Childline. “We have handed over all the eight girls to Childline after interrogation. Raids were on to nab the woman who was taking the girls to Tamil Nadu, promising jobs,” said Amar Kumar Pandey, Chaibasa sub-divisional police officer.

All the girls came to Chaibasa from Kumardungi by bus and were going to Tamil Nadu for jobs in yarn spinning and cutting for a company there. The girls told the police that the woman from Chakradharpur who was taking them to Tamil Nadu had promised them better jobs and salaries and they had agreed in view of the abject poverty in their families. Members of Adivasi Ho Samaj Yuva Mahasabha, however, followed the entourage from Kumardungi and passed on the information to the police

First Published: Apr 02, 2019 02:45 IST