6 Rohingya girls rescued in Bihar's Katihar, two traffickers held

Patna, Aug 31

Six Rohingya girls, allegedly being taken to Delhi for the flesh trade racket, were rescued from a train in Bihar's Katihar by Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel and two men "escorting" them held, an official said on Wednesday.

One of the men, Mohammad Ehsanul Haq, said that they had picked up the girls from the Guwahati railway station and were tasked to transport them to a handler in New Delhi.

"The girls belong to the Rohingya community of Myanmar and had illegally entered India. I am also a native of Myanmar and living illegally in the Jammu region for the last 12 years. I was assigned to take 6 Rohingya girls to New Delhi and hand them over to a person who came to the railway station. For this, I would be paid Rs 12,000," he said.

Katihar RPF received an input about some suspicious girls travelling in the Sampark Kranti express. Accordingly, when the train reached Katihar railway station in the early Wednesday, they detained them.

"During preliminary investigation, the accused claimed that they are part of a flesh trade racket and their job is to transport the girls to Delhi, where they would be forced into prostitution. Further investigation is on," said an official of RPF Katihar.