IMPHAL, Feb 2 - In a major operation, more than 100 girls � suspected to have been trafficked from Nepal � were rescued following a series of raids here and at a border town since the last two days, sources said.
Initially, 40 of them were rescued and a suspected trafficker, who accompanied them, was held by Tengnoupal district police from hotels at Moreh, a border town in Manipur, on Friday.
In the follow-up operations in the State capital on the same day, 61 more girls were rescued from places around Imphal town, the sources added.
The rescued girls, who are said to be between 20 to 35 years of age, were suspected to have been on their way to be trafficked to different cities of South Asian and Middle East countries through Myanmar via Moreh, a border town along the Indo-Myanmar international border.
The State authorities have undertaken verification of the rescued girls as some of them possess Nepal passports.
Meanwhile, there are reports of more persons, including men, being rescued in subsequent operations conducted again in and around Imphal today.
The total number of persons rescued in the operations so far is likely to increase. However, the details are yet to be compiled and further verification is under way, an official of the State Social Welfare Department said. The rescued girls have been sent to shelter homes in the State.
Newmai News adds: It is suspected that some girls have already crossed the border. The operation in Moreh town began at 8 am on Friday following a tip-off from some NGOs.
According to sources, it is suspected that the same trafficking network is involved in the incidents at Moreh and Imphal.
Police sources said that some men accompanying the girls and women have also been picked up by the police. One of the men has been identified by the police as one Asha Kali Tamang (42). He is believed to be the leader of the trafficking network.
Staff Reporter adds: As many as 130 Nepalese women, including minors, were rescued from the clutches of human traffickers, top security sources said.
The police have so far arrested six traffickers in this connection from different locations. Around 30 girls were also rescued from the Bir Tikendrajit International Airport at Imphal.
The incident came to light after six girls were rescued in New Delhi by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on January 30, who deposed that another group of women had already left Delhi on the same day.
Maiti Nepal, a Nepal-based NGO working on trafficking, confirmed the information of girls having been trafficked from Nepal to India, and sounded an alert to Impulse NGO Network, a Meghalaya-based NGO.
A statement from Impulse NGO Network later stated that Maiti Nepal informed it that about 70 girls were being trafficked from Nepal to Myanmar through Moreh and accordingly, the anti-trafficking unit and Border Security Force were alerted.
