56 women rescued from trafficking attempt in Bengal's Siliguri, two held

Kolkata, July 22 In a major crackdown on human trafficking, 56 young women were rescued from New Jalpaiguri Railway Station at Siliguri in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, on Tuesday, by a joint team of Railway Protection Force (RPF) and General Railway Police (GRP).

Two people were arrested in connection with the attempted human trafficking. The arrested persons tried to traffic these women to other states on the pretext of providing them jobs in a mobile company.

According to the GRP, the arrested persons have been identified as Jitendra Kumar Paswan, a resident of Bhatpara in North 24 Parganas district, and Chandrika Kar, a resident of Porajhar near Siliguri in Darjeeling district.

“The police have registered a case against both of them under sections related to punishment for human trafficking,” said a GRP official.

Confirming the development, the GRP superintendent Kunwar Bhushan Singh said that police are investigating all possible angles and are trying to nab other associates of the two arrested in this racket.

The cops suspect that the two arrested persons are part of a major human trafficking racket that operates through the north Bengal corridor.

It is learnt that most of the 56 young women, who were rescued, hailed from Jalpaiguri, Banarhat, Cooch Behar, and Kalchini areas of Alipurduar district in north Bengal. Mainly, women living in and around tea garden areas were targeted.

Police said the young women were lured with job offers at a company in Bengaluru. “However, they intended to take these young women to the Hosur district of Tamil Nadu. The families of the young women have been informed, a district police official aware of the development said.

On Monday night, the RPF received a tip-off about a possible human trafficking. "Accordingly, surveillance began at New Jalpaiguri Railway Station on Monday night. A special team of 27 people was formed under the leadership of GRP Police officers Atreyi Gangopadhyay and Barsha Pradhan. The women were rescued following a raid on the Patna-bound Capital Express from NJP," said a cop aware of the development.

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