
Trafficking ring busted on Vivek Exp; 27 girls rescued & 5 held
2
Guwahati: The
Railway Protection Force
(RPF), in collaboration with the Government Railway Police (GRP), successfully rescued 27 girls, including three minors, from the Dibrugarh-Kanyakumari Vivek Express at New Tinsukia junction, Assam.
The operation also led to the arrest of five suspected traffickers, who were allegedly operating under the guise of a private NGO.
The suspects, identified as Hemanta Saikia, Mitali Bailong, Swapna Hazarika, Pranjali Baruah, and Jitu Dutta, all hail from Tinsukia. They were apprehended and presented before a local court on Friday. The victims were reportedly being trafficked to Tamil Nadu and intercepted during a routine security check ahead of Independence Day, an RPF official from the New Tinsukia division said on Friday.
The incident unfolded on Wednesday night at Dibrugarh railway station when RPF personnel noticed a suspiciously large group of young women traveling together. Upon questioning, the group claimed they were offered jobs at a private company in Tamil Nadu. However, discrepancies between the company list and the passenger list prompted immediate action, leading to their de-boarding at Tinsukia, the officer said.
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Most of the rescued women, in their twenties, belong to the tea garden communities and local Assamese families from Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts. Alarmingly, they had been taken without parental consent. Authorities have arranged immediate shelter for the minors and are working to reunite them with their families.
GRP officer-in-charge Probhat Saikia confirmed ongoing legal proceedings and investigations aimed at dismantling the broader trafficking network. This operation is part of a larger initiative to combat human trafficking and ensure the safety of vulnerable individuals in the northeast, particularly in high-risk transit zones like railway stations.

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