16 girls among 17 minors trafficked from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh rescued

Seventeen minors - 16 girls and a boy - who were trafficked from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have been rescued from Delhi.

Latehar: Seventeen minors – 16 girls and a boy – who were trafficked from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have been rescued from Delhi and several other cities, police said on Thursday.

Seven people have been arrested for allegedly being involved in the trafficking, a senior officer said.

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A special investigation team (SIT) conducted raids in Delhi, Chandigarh, Noida, Panipat and Ghaziabad and rescued the children, who are from Latehar district of Jharkhand and Balrampur of Chhattisgarh, he said.

“Our SIT rescued 17 minors, including 16 girls, who were trafficked by middlemen and exploited by placement agencies. We have arrested seven people, including one who ran a placement agency besides a couple. Our team is still in Delhi. We are trying to rescue more children,” Latehar Superintendent of Police Anjani Anjan said.

The rescued minors belong to the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) and they were victims of sexual exploitation, he said.

The girls were also exploited by placement agencies as well as those hiring them, the SP said.

The Jharkhand High Court had on Wednesday applauded the efforts of the special investigation team (SIT) of the Latehar police for rescuing the minors.

The police informed the court that 15 other victims of human trafficking had also been rescued.

A division bench comprising Justices Sujit Narayan Prasad and Navneet Kumar was hearing a bail plea by a person who has been accused of human trafficking.

The accused had filed the petition, seeking bail after it was rejected by the Latehar District Court.

Notably, eleven girls of the Pahariya tribe, trafficked from Jharkhand, were rescued in Bengaluru in May.

In another case, 13 minors, including a 14-year-old pregnant girl, who were trafficked from the eastern state, were rescued from Delhi.