Sambalpur: Police in Odisha have rescued a 12-year-old girl, who was allegedly drugged, abducted from Sambalpur district, and sold in Madhya Pradesh for ₹1.5 lakh.
According to sources, family of the girl lodge a missing person complaint at Hirakud police station on October 30 after she went missing from the area. Initiating an immediate investigation into the disappearance, police tracked the movement of suspected traffickers across state borders. Following which, a special task force traced the missing child to Damoh district in Madhya Pradesh. During the operation, the victim was rescued and the prime suspect, identified as Shivshankar Yadav, was apprehended.
It is being suspected that the girl was drugged prior to her abduction to prevent resistance before being transported to Madhya Pradesh, where she was illegally sold.
The investigation has also uncovered evidence pointing toward a broader inter-state human trafficking syndicate. Police suspect the involvement of three women who allegedly played active roles in deceiving and kidnapping the child. Efforts are currently underway to trace and detain all co-conspirators involved in the racket.
