Authorities warn that vulnerable girls from the Northeast are increasingly being exploited through digital platforms and fake job offers. The latest case highlights the urgent need for digital literacy.
BY PC Bureau
June 22, 2025 — Two minor girls, aged 15 and 17, from Arunachal Pradesh’s Siang district were successfully rescued from Raipur, Chhattisgarh on Saturday, days after being trafficked under the pretence of employment opportunities. The Police revealed that the prime accused, a cook hailing from Dimapur was arrested for running the trafficking racket through fake recruitment offers on social media.
The case unfolded after the father of one of the girls filed a missing person report at the Boleng police station on June 10, alerting that his 15-year-old daughter had disappeared. Given the circumstances, the case swiftly escalated into a suspected human trafficking incident and was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) of Siang district was promptly informed to intervene in the best interests of the minors.
Superintendent of Police (SP) JK Lego confirmed that investigators used advanced technical surveillance to trace the location of the girls to Raipur. With vital assistance from the Vidhan Sabha police station in Chhattisgarh, the girls were safely rescued and temporarily accommodated at Sakhi Saheli, a government-run shelter home for women and children.
Siang police rescued trafficked girls from Raipur, and a Nagaland man was arrested in connection with the case. Arunachal Pradesh. pic.twitter.com/DFnuEej4R2
— Team SCB⚔️ #Citizen_Media🏹भारतपुत्र👣 (@1SanatanSatya) June 22, 2025
A police team from Arunachal Pradesh, led by Sub-Inspector Tanu Padung, traveled to Raipur to assume custody of the victims and secure a transit remand for the accused trafficker. The girls were brought back to Boleng on June 20 and underwent medical evaluations. They have since been handed over to the CWC for further counseling and rehabilitation support.
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Preliminary investigations indicate that the accused exploited social media platforms to befriend the victims and lure them with false promises of employment and financial support. He allegedly coordinated their travel from Boleng to Raipur, raising fears of a larger trafficking ring in operation.
Digital evidence, including mobile phones and financial transaction records, are now being analyzed to trace possible accomplices and determine the full scope of the network. Authorities are not ruling out the involvement of interstate trafficking syndicates that prey on vulnerable girls from the Northeast under the guise of jobs or education.
The rescue and investigation efforts were closely supervised by SP JK Lego, with critical operational support from Deputy Superintendent of Police Sange Tenzin and DSP (Law & Order) Togum Gongo.
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The incident underscores a growing concern over the targeting of girls from tribal regions like Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Manipur—where conflict, poverty, and lack of employment drive many into the clutches of traffickers posing as recruiters on social platforms. Human rights groups have repeatedly warned that such criminal networks are expanding, taking advantage of weak state-level enforcement and the absence of digital literacy in remote areas.
