Five people were arrested and one suspect detained in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district on Friday after police busted an inter-state human trafficking network allegedly involved in trafficking of minor girls. Police said that ten girls were rescued.
The gang targeted poor families, especially from the Kangar community, and bought girls at a very young age, Jhalawar Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar said on Saturday. “The children were under the gang’s control until they were around 11 years old, after which they were sold into prostitution in cities like Mumbai for thousands of rupees,” police said.
“Most of the girls rescued are between four and five years old,” Kumar said. The victims were allegedly trafficked for prostitution in Mumbai and several districts in Rajasthan, including Jhalawar, Tonk, Bundi and Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh.
According to the SP, the gang targeted poor, debt-ridden families by luring them with promises of jobs for their daughters and financial assistance.
Investigations revealed that written agreements were implemented with the families. The agreements reportedly stipulated that the loans would be waived under certain conditions, and family members would have to repay double or triple the amount if the girl escaped from the custody of traffickers.
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Police said the brokers pocketed most of the money earned from trafficking, while only a small portion went to their families.
The gang allegedly used fake Aadhaar cards to pass off minor girls as adults above 18 years of age.
Kumar said that among the rescued girls, four are from Jhalawar, while the rest are from Tonk and Bundi districts of Rajasthan.
After obtaining information about the trafficking network, the police formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) along with three additional teams to eliminate this network and rescue the victims.
The alleged leader of the gang has been identified as Ramkanya Bai, a resident of Bundi area, who was reportedly in touch with middlemen involved in the trafficking network.
The arrested accused have been identified as Ramakanya Bai (53), Bhim Shankar Kangar (22), Ankush Kangar (26), Ramesh Kangar (55), all residents of Bundi district, and Sunny Kangar (40), a resident of Jhalawar district. Another suspect from the Bondi area was arrested.
Three others are on the run. They have been identified as Mohammed Hanif (40) from Karnataka, Anwar Sheikh (40) from Bihar, and Rajesh Dabal (37) from Mumbai. Kumar said that police teams are searching for them.
The accused have been booked under the provisions of the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act and other relevant laws. After being brought before the court, the defendants were detained for five days pending investigation.
