Police rescued around 148 trafficked girls and arrested six suspected human traffickers in separate raids conducted at Tengnoupal, Manipur on February 1.
This has been the biggest rescue operation ever executed in the city. In one of the raids, 40 Nepali girls were rescued by a team of Tengnoupal police. The girls rescued by the police are said to be trafficked from South Asian and Middle-eastern countries.
A suspected trafficker was also arrested on the morning of January 31. He was accompanying the girls from Moreh town in Manipur.
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The Tengnoupal district police also carried out the drive in suspected vehicles and hotels located at Moreh town, after being intimated by an NGO in Nepal to Delhi Women Commission regarding the illegal human trafficking of large number girls from Nepal for flesh trade.
Tengnoupal SP, S Ibomcha said: “They were sent by a person named Rajiv Sharma from Nepal’s Sunauli town with the assistance of some other unidentified traffickers.”
The rescued girls had disclosed that they were being sent to Iraq and Kuwait via Manipur and were promised job opportunities and better living conditions.
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According to a source, the rescued girls will be sent to government-registered shelter home under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana after proper verification.
In a separate incident, four other persons including two males, who are the prime suspect involved in illegal human trafficking were arrested from hotel Santosh located at Paona Bazar by a team of City police.