Tura, Sep 12: A joint operation between two districts police, South West Garo Hills and West Garo Hills police, has unraveled a human trafficking network involving four women who lured away two minor girls from Garo Hills and sold them in Northern India as brides in regions where the population of females has drastically fallen due to widespread killing of female babies in a male dominated society.

A gruelling 8-month operation that began in February of this year, after the two girls went missing in South West Garo Hills (SWGH) district, was cracked this week after four women involved in trafficking the girls were arrested from different parts of the region including the northern state of Haryana.

Also, both the victims were successfully rescued from northern India states of Rajasthan and Haryana after multiple raids on locations based on inputs obtained from the arrested women traffickers.

One of the trafficked minor was sold for marriage at a place called Mahendergarh District in Haryana, while the other minor victim was sold in Jhunjhunu District of Rajasthan.

The breakthrough came with the arrest of three women involved in the trafficking this week. Two of the women were nabbed in Tura while another was arrested from Tikrikilla.

The Superintendent of Police (SP) of South West Garo Hills, Siddharth Ambedkar on Sunday said all three arrested persons have admitted to have taken the girls from Tura to Haryana with the help of some others.

Police were also able to obtain crucial information from the arrested traffickers about the fourth trafficker, who hails from Tura but is settled in Haryana.

The Haryana based woman from Tura played the role of selling the two minor victims for marriage in Northern India.

The Haryana woman has also been arrested and she spilled the beans of the girls’ current location leading to their rescue.

Both victims have been escorted back to Garo Hills and reunited with their families.

Beware of Traffickers! Alert missing persons

What began as a simple missing report has now revealed a much deeper and sinister working of a trafficking network operating in the region.

South West Garo Hills district police that cracked the case has raised an alarm asking public to be alert to missing cases.

South West Garo Hills Superintendent of Police, Siddharth Ambedkar issued a general appeal to the public to remain alert and assist police by quickly reporting any missing person to the nearest police station, especially of missing children and girls.

“Early and prompt reporting will enable us to act quickly to rescue the victim and bring the traffickers to justice,” Ambedkar said.