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Police bust prostitution racket in Arunachal, senior cop among 21 arrested
Police said that they have rescued at least five minor girls aged between 10 and 15 years and arrested several people including a state government official
Silchar: The Arunachal Pradesh Police over ten days busted a prostitution ring and rescued at least five minor girls aged between 10 and 15 years while also arresting 21 people, including a senior police officer and a state government employee, said officials aware of the matter.
Police said they began a crackdown on the alleged child trafficking and prostitution ring after a complaint was launched at the Itanagar women’s police station by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) earlier this month.
Based on specific information, an operation was launched on May 4 and two minor girls were rescued from a red light area, said Itanagar superintendent of police (SP) Rohit Rajbir Singh.
The two girls rescued on May 4 were from Assam and were brought to Itanagar between 2020 and 2022 in the name of providing jobs. “Initially, they were given work in a beauty parlour but later pushed into prostitution”, said officials.
Police said that the girls were rescued from a house owned by some local women who were also detained for questioning.
During the investigation, a deputy superintendent of police, a deputy director in the directorate of health services and some government employees were also found involved in the racket.
Three more girls from two locations near Itanagar were rescued during the 10-day operation, said police.
“All the five girls were trafficked to Itangar from villages in Assam. One of them is 10 years old, one is 12 years old and three are 15 years of age”, officials said.
All the 21 individuals have been arrested under 373 (buying minor girls for purposes of prostitution) and some other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with different sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act and the Immoral Trafficking Act.
“All of them are being produced before the court and further investigation is going on. We may arrest more persons involved in this case. The rescued girls have been sent to a shelter home and will be handed over to their family members after completing the mandatory investigations”, SP Singh said.
