Kolkata, July 28 (IANS) An organised human trafficking network operating in North Bengal — specifically targeting young women from areas near several closed tea gardens — has emerged as a major challenge for the West Bengal police.

Over the last six days, authorities have rescued 90 women from the prime township in North Bengal, Siliguri in Darjeeling district, before they were trafficked. What is intriguing is that the traffickers are frequently changing their modes of transportation for getting these women trafficked to other states.

The investigating officers are also probing the involvement of fake voluntary and non-government organisations, which had been running offices in these areas, posing as organisations promising social and economic welfare of vulnerable women from the closed tea garden area.

The latest rescue took place on Sunday night, when Siliguri City Police intercepted a private luxury bus and saved 34 women before they could be trafficked to other states.

There people, including a woman, have been arrested in this connection.

“The arrested persons are identified as Gautam Roy, a resident of Siliguri, Petrus Beck, a resident of Meteli in Dooars, and Jayshree Pal, a resident of Bhaktinagar in Siliguri. They tried to smuggle 34 women in a private luxury bus from Siliguri bus stand,” said an official of Pradhannagar Police Station under Siliguri City Police on Monday morning.

The police investigations have revealed that the women were first taken to Ranchi in Jharkhand by a bus, and from there they were to be taken to Tamil Nadu by a train.

“The traffickers used to get Rs 4,000 per young woman. These rescued women are mainly residents of Kalchini in Alipurduar district. Like the previous instance, the traffickers lured them with job offers in an electronics company in Bangalore, the official said.

Pradhannagar Police Station Inspector in Charge B.D. Sarkar said these women have been rescued and taken to a safe place. “Their families have been informed. Everything is being investigated. We suspect that an organised interstate women trafficking ring is involved behind this,” he added.

The fresh rescue happened just six days after 56 women were rescued from New Jalpaiguri railway station in north Bengal by the Railways Protection Force (RPF) and General Railway Police (GRP).

In the previous rescue last week, the cops arrested one individual, Virendra Pratap Singh, the project director of the ‘Durg Education and Charitable Society’, reportedly a fake NGO.

–IANS

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