Jaipur/Jhalawar, July 28: Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district police have busted an interstate human trafficking racket allegedly involved in bringing minor girls from poor and orphaned families in Bihar to Rajasthan under the pretext of marriage, arresting four key accused and uncovering a wider network operating across multiple states.
According to police, the accused allegedly lured minor girls from economically vulnerable families in Bihar with promises of marriage into well-settled families in Rajasthan. After bringing them to the state, the gang allegedly prepared fake identity documents and arranged their marriages in exchange for substantial sums of money.
The operation was launched after police received information that a minor girl from Bihar was being forcibly taken in a vehicle from Madanpuriya village in the Aklera area of Jhalawar district.
Acting swiftly, teams from the Aklera and Ratlai police stations, with the assistance of local villagers, intercepted the vehicle by blocking the road with a tractor-trolley. Six people travelling in the vehicle were detained for questioning, while the rescued minor girl was shifted to a One Stop Center for care and protection.
Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar said the investigation revealed that the trafficking network was active across Bihar, Rajasthan’s Hadoti region and parts of Madhya Pradesh.
“The investigation revealed that the gang lured girls from extremely poor, destitute, and orphaned families in Bihar to Rajasthan with the promise of marriage in a good family,” Kumar said.
He said the gang allegedly prepared forged identity documents for the girls before arranging their marriages in return for large amounts of money.
“They would prepare fake documents and arrange marriages for them in exchange for substantial sums of money,” the SP said.
Police further alleged that the traffickers repeatedly exploited the victims by arranging multiple marriages.
“If the relationship didn’t work out, the gang members would take the girls back and plot to marry them elsewhere,” Kumar said.
Based on the investigation, police arrested Maharaj Shah and Dharmendra Kumar from Bihar, Ajay Jangid from Jaipur, and Chauthmal, who allegedly acted as a broker in Rajasthan’s Hadoti region and Madhya Pradesh.
All four accused were produced before a POCSO court, which remanded them to police custody for further interrogation.
“Given the seriousness of the case, separate police teams were sent to Rajasthan and Bihar. All four main accused have been arrested and further investigation into the entire human trafficking network is underway,” Kumar said.
Police said they are now probing the involvement of other suspects, the financial transactions linked to the racket and the full extent of the interstate human trafficking network.
