Assam Police issues alert to prevent human trafficking in flood-affected areas

Guwahati, July 14: The Assam Police has issued an alert to all stakeholders to be vigilant to prevent any attempt of human trafficking in the flood-affected areas of the State.

Talking to The Assam Tribune, a senior official of CID, Assam Police, said that all police stations, particularly those located in flood-affected and human trafficking-prone areas, have been instructed to increase vigil to avert any human trafficking incident.

"Along with police stations, officials of all railway and bus stations have been alerted. Local police, in collaboration with the Government Railway Police (GRP) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF), have increased vigilance in all railway and bus stations, especially those known to be used by trafficking gangs as transit routes," the official said.

GRP officials said they have increased vigilance with the flood situation turning critical in the State. Notably, Guwahati is the main transit route used by trafficking gangs. Child rights activist Digambar Narzary, who has been working to prevent child trafficking in the State for a long time, said that amid the devastating flood, traffickers have already started to look for vulnerable people, especially women and children, in the affected areas.

"We need a proper surveillance mechanism at the micro level to avert any incident of human trafficking. Traffickers mainly target the children of poor families who have lost their means of livelihood in the flood. They lure them by offering jobs outside the State. So, there is a need to put in place a proper mechanism in the flood-ravaged remote areas so that people can inform police and NGOs immediately if any such act is spotted, or else it becomes difficult to stop such crimes," Narzary said.

He also said that the authorities need to conduct extensive awareness drives across the State about helpline services through which anyone can report an incident or attempt of human trafficking. He also said that there is a need for strict vigilance in the Assam-West Bengal inter-state border areas, as Dhubri and Barpeta districts have become vulnerable to human trafficking.

-By Staff Reporter