Agartala, July 2: Three minor girls from Tripura’s Dhalai district, who allegedly left their homes with a local man and travelled to Gujarat, were traced and rescued by the Gujarat Police following swift coordination with the Tripura Police. Investigators are probing the possibility of human trafficking behind the incident.
Addressing reporters on Thursday, Additional Superintendent of Police (Dhalai) Uttam Banik said the girls, aged between 15 and 16 years, left their homes together on Monday morning with a man identified as Mukesh, a resident of the Ganganagar police station area in Dhalai district. The group travelled by air via Kolkata and reached Ahmedabad.
Family members lodged a complaint later the same day after the girls went missing. Based on the complaint, Ganganagar Police registered a kidnapping case under Sections 137(2), 146(5) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as all three girls are minors.
Banik said senior police officials, including the Deputy Inspector General (Northern Range) and the Inspector General of Police, were immediately informed, following which close coordination was established with the Gujarat Police, Ahmedabad Police and the Ahmedabad Airport Police Station.
Using boarding pass details, photographs and live location tracking, the Tripura Police traced the movements of the girls after they landed in Ahmedabad. Acting on the real-time inputs shared by Tripura Police, Gujarat Police located the girls, detained them safely and confirmed their identities.
An investigating officer from Tripura, accompanied by an armed constable and a woman constable, has already left for Gujarat. The team will obtain transit remand from a local court before bringing the three girls and the accused back to Tripura for further investigation.
Police said the case is being investigated from all possible angles, including suspected human trafficking. Banik said the girls had initially refused to return home and reportedly told their parents during a video call from Ahmedabad Airport that they wished to stay in Gujarat and work.
“Since incidents of trafficking of women and girls have been reported from the region in the past, we are examining every possible angle,” the Additional SP said.
According to police, none of the three girls was attending school and all belonged to economically weaker families, making them potentially vulnerable to exploitation.
Banik praised the coordinated efforts of the Dhalai Police, Tripura Police Headquarters and the Gujarat Police, particularly the Ahmedabad Airport Police Station and the local police, for tracing and rescuing the girls within hours of the complaint being registered. He said the prompt interstate coordination helped prevent any further harm while the investigation into the motive behind the incident continues.
