India News | Over 100 People Rescued from Human Traffickers in 2021: Assam DGP

Guwahati, Jul 30 (PTI) Assam Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta on Friday said more than 100 people have been rescued from human traffickers since the beginning of this year.

Out of the 100, 84 were rescued after the Himanta Biswa Sarma government came to power in May.

"While we rescued 157 trafficked persons in 2020, this year we have already rescued more than 100 such unfortunate victims," Mahanta tweeted, marking the World Day against Trafficking in Persons.

In a series of tweets, the DGP said human trafficking is a grim reality where criminals target the destitute, the underprivileged, women, and children for various reasons like sexual slavery, forced labour and other kinds of fraud.

"@assampolice has set out on a path of zero tolerance in this regard... On this day, Assam Police is renewing our resolve to eliminate the menace of HUMAN TRAFFICKING from the state with the support of all stakeholders," he added.

Mahanta said that since May, the police has arrested 23 people and registered 22 cases of human trafficking.

On July 23, a total of 42 children were rescued from different parts of Sikkim, while efforts are still on to locate 38 others who were trafficked from four villages of Chirang district along the Indo-Bhutan border.

The parents of the children were lured by two persons who assured that their education would be taken care of, but they ended up as domestic helps.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday visited Chirang and Kokrajhar districts and met the victims and their parents.

According to an official release from the Chief Minister's Office, Sarma listened to the children's harrowing experiences and said that all must join hands to erase the scars from their minds.

Later talking to reporters, Sarma said that the Assam Police is continuing its search for the others, who had been trafficked, along with the rescued children.

Ten more trafficked children have been traced in Sikkim, he said.

The chief minister said that direction has been issued to the Social Welfare Department to take steps in consultation with the Child Welfare Committee for keeping the rescued children in good hostels and provide academic and other support to them.

"Those staying with their parents will also be provided support for their education. Making them forget these experiences while motivating them towards achieving holistic development will be the prime objective," he added.

Sarma also said in a tweet that the government will work on creating an economic package to utilise the services of villagers of those 10 villages which bear the brunt of human trafficking and take steps to include victims' families in the flagship Orunodoi scheme.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)