Bhubaneswar: In a swift operation, police have rescued two minor girls from Nepal from a hotel in the Chandrasekharpur area of Bhubaneswar. Both girls, who are under 18 years of age, were allegedly trafficked from Nepal to Odisha for forced prostitution.
According to reports, the girls were brought to India with false promises of jobs. Instead of employment, traffickers forced them into the flesh trade. The duo was first taken across the Nepal border to Kolkata in West Bengal, then moved to Delhi, and finally transported by train to Bhubaneswar, where they were kept in a hotel in Chandrasekharpur.
Commissionerate Police acted on specific information provided by a local youth and raided the hotel on April 22. The girls were immediately rescued and placed in a short-stay home in the Chandrasekharpur area for safety and care.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the girls had left their homes in Nepal hoping for better opportunities in India but were trapped by traffickers. The trafficker who brought them to Bhubaneswar, managed to flee and is currently absconding. Police have launched a manhunt for him.
Police are now gathering detailed information about the girls’ families in Nepal.
Concerned authorities from Nepal are expected to arrive in Odisha soon to facilitate the safe repatriation of the minors to their homes.
Police are also questioning the youth who tipped them off and are investigating the larger network behind the trafficking. Key questions being probed include whether the trafficker is Indian or Nepali, his possible links to any sex racket in Bhubaneswar, and the amount paid to procure the girls.
