Agartala, July 2:
Three minor girls from Tripura’s Dhalai district, who allegedly were kidnapped from their homes and travelled to Gujarat with a local man, have been traced and rescued by the Gujarat Police following swift interstate coordination by the Tripura Police. Investigators are probing the possibility of human trafficking behind the incident.
Speaking to reporters, Additional Superintendent of Police (Dhalai) Uttam Banik said the girls, aged 15 and 16, left their homes together on Monday morning with a person identified as Mukesh, a resident of the Ganganagar police station area in Dhalai district. The trio travelled by air via Kolkata and reached Ahmedabad.
A complaint was lodged by the girls’ family members later in the day, following which Ganganagar Police registered a kidnapping case as all three are minors under Sections 137(2), 146(5) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Banik said senior officers, including the DIG (Northern Range) and the IGP, were immediately informed, and coordination was established with the Gujarat Police, Ahmedabad Police and the Airport Police Station.
Using boarding pass details, photographs and live location tracking, Tripura Police traced the girls’ movements after they landed in Ahmedabad. Acting on updated location inputs shared by Tripura Police, the Gujarat Police detained the girls and confirmed their identity.
An investigating officer, accompanied by an armed constable and a woman constable, has already been dispatched to Gujarat to secure transit remand from the local court and bring the victims and the accused back to Tripura.
The Additional SP said investigators are examining the case from the angle of possible human trafficking.
He noted that the girls had initially refused to return home and reportedly told their parents during a video call from Ahmedabad Airport that they wanted to stay there and work. “Since such cases of trafficking of women have been reported in the region, we are investigating all possible angles,” he said.
According to the police, the three girls were not attending school and belonged to economically weak families.
Banik lauded the coordinated efforts of the Dhalai Police, Tripura Police Headquarters and the Gujarat Police, particularly the officers of the Ahmedabad Airport Police Station and the local police station concerned, for the successful rescue operation carried out within hours of the complaint being received.
