Patna, In a late-night operation on Wednesday, police in Bihar’s Rohtas district rescued 17 minor girls who were allegedly being trafficked into prostitution under the pretext of employment in travelling orchestras, authorities said.
Acting on specific intelligence, a team led by Bikramganj Additional Superintendent of Police Saket Kumar, supported by officers from five police stations and female constables, raided premises in Bardihan village, a known red-light area under Nasriganj police station limits. Three alleged orchestra operators – Mamta Vishwakarma, Gita Kunwar and Raman Kumar Paswan alias Munna – were arrested at the scene.
Rohtas Superintendent of Police Raushan Kumar told reporters that the rescued girls, aged between 13 and 17 and hailing from Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and other states, had been lured with promises of work as dancers or singers in orchestra troupes before being coerced into commercial sexual exploitation.
“All 17 minors have been produced before the Child Welfare Committee at Sasaram and subsequently shifted to a government-run children’s home in neighbouring Kaimur district,” Mr Kumar said. Authorities in the girls’ home states have been informed.
A case has been registered against the three arrested individuals and 15-20 of their unidentified associates. Further raids are under way to apprehend at least five additional orchestra operators believed to be part of the same network, the SP added.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has been apprised of the “well-organised racket” and requested to monitor the investigation, a senior official said.
The operation comes eight months after Rohtas police rescued 47 minor tribal girls in a similar crackdown in March this year, highlighting persistent vulnerabilities in the cross-state trafficking of minors through the orchestra and dance troupe circuit in rural Bihar.
