Siliguri, West Bengal Railway workers were suspicious of a large group of young women traveling together on the New Jalpaiguri-Patna Capital Express because none of them had their tickets or ID with them. This watchfulness finally saved 56 women and led to the arrest of two people who were thought to be running a human trafficking ring.
Officials told news agency PTI that the event happened at the New Jalpaiguri station in Siliguri, West Bengal. The ladies that were saved were between the ages of 18 and 31 and were from the West Bengal districts of Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, and Alipurduar.
The ticket checkers and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) were concerned when they found out that none of the women had legitimate tickets. A routine check by RPF staff at the source station showed that coach and berth numbers had been imprinted on their hands in a strange way, which is something that is usually done for verified passengers.
When asked, the women said they had been promised jobs at a company in Bengaluru. However, the RPF identified a man and a woman with the group who couldn’t explain why the women were going to Bihar while their supposed job offers were in Bengaluru. In addition, the two people who were with them could not show any papers proving that they had employment offers or good reasons for going. They were arrested right away at the site since their stories didn’t match up.
The ladies who were saved have now gone back to their homes. The railway police and the RPF are working together to look into the matter, with a special focus on the human trafficking component.
West Bengal is a major center for human trafficking in India. Because its borders are easy to cross and its people are economically vulnerable, it is commonly a source, transit, and destination state. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the state has a special group called the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) that works to stop human trafficking. You can call the AHTU at 033-24506114 on the CID website to report these kinds of things and get help.