Jharkhand Police bust inter-state child trafficking racket, rescue 12 kids

Ranchi, Jan 18 (PTI) Jharkhand Police on Sunday busted an inter-state child trafficking racket and rescued 12 children who were abducted from various districts of the state, officials said.

Police also arrested 13 members of the gang, including women, while interrogation of around two dozen suspects is still underway, they said.

SSP Ranchi Rakesh Ranjan said, "The SIT has so far rescued 12 children, who were abducted from different districts of the state by an active inter-state child theft gang." Among the rescued, 10 are girls and two boys, all aged between 4 and 12 years, he said.

Addressing a press conference, the SSP said 13 members of the gang have been arrested from Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

"Our investigation is continuing," he said.

According to police, the rescued children were abducted from Ranchi, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Chaibasa and Latehar districts.

All the children have been brought to Dhurwa police station, and arrangements are being made for DNA tests to identify and reunite them with their families.

Police investigation has also found that this gang, known as the ‘Gulgulia Gang’, has been involved in child theft for the past 10 years.

The gang operates in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh.

According to police, the gang mainly targets children hailing from poor families, as their parents often lack legal awareness and are unable to approach police.

The SSP added that the gang wanted to sell the two siblings, but due to timely police action, the plan was foiled.

The breakthrough comes days after a special investigation team (SIT) of Ranchi police recovered the two missing siblings.

The children, who went missing on January 2, were recovered safely from Chitarpur in Ramgarh district on January 14, a senior police official said. PTI RPS RPS MNB