Siliguri: In a major crackdown on a human trafficking racket, authorities rescued 56 young women being taken to Bihar from various locations in north Bengal with the promise of decent jobs in Bengaluru. Two persons have been arrested in this connection.
According to officials, Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel at the New Jalpaiguri station got suspicious after spotting a large number of women travelling together in the same coach of the New Jalpaiguri-Patna Capital Express on Monday evening.
On being questioned, the women said they had no valid tickets with them. Their coach and berth numbers were stamped on their hands. All of them were between 18 and 31. Things became clearer when the women said they were going to Bengaluru where they had been offered jobs.
“The train in which they were on doesn’t go to Bengaluru. Its destination is Patna. All the women were from the Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, and Alipurduar districts. They said that they had been promised decent, well-paying jobs in Bengaluru. None of them could produce offer letters or any official documents to show that they had got jobs anywhere,” the official said.
The RPF then spotted a man and woman accompanying the group. When they were questioned, the two gave contradictory statements regarding the purpose of taking along so many women with them. The two were immediately arrested.
“It became clear that the two were a part of a larger racket. It seems that they were the ones who went to remote villages in the north Bengal districts an lured the young women with the offer of jobs. In all probability, they were to be sold to people engaged in the flesh trade in Bihar. From there, they may have been sent elsewhere, either individually or in groups,” the official added.
The women have been counselled and reunited with their families. The man and the woman who have been arrested are being questioned by RPF and Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel.
