Itanagar: Police in Arunachal Pradesh’s Itanagar have busted an organised interstate child trafficking racket operating between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, rescuing three minor girls and arresting six persons accused of trafficking, purchasing, and exploiting children as domestic labourers, officials said on Thursday.Capital SP Jummar Basar said the case surfaced after a grievously injured seven-year-old girl was found wandering alone in F-Sector here around 4.30 am on February 7.
A resident took her to the Women PS, from where she was rushed for treatment and counselling. The child was later provided with psychological support at ‘Ane’s Home’, a one-stop support centre for women and children within the WPS premises.“During counselling, the girl disclosed details that exposed a wider trafficking network, prompting registration of a case under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Child Labour Act, and the Juvenile Justice Act,” the SP said.Investigators found that the child had been trafficked from Assam and employed as a domestic help in an Itanagar household, where she was repeatedly assaulted and subjected to cruelty. She escaped on the night of February 6 and was subsequently rescued, he said.Further probe revealed a pattern of illegal transfer and sale of minor children across districts and states over several years. Children were allegedly sold through informal cash transactions without legal adoption procedures, deprived of education and identity documents, and forced into domestic labour. Police also found that multiple children from the same families had been trafficked to different households.Acting on leads, police teams rescued three minor girls from different locations and arrested six persons for their alleged roles in trafficking, purchasing, and exploiting minors.The arrested persons were identified as Chide Doke (29) of F-Sector, Itanagar, Yanga Gongo Nalo (45) of Tapi village in Upper Subansiri district, Marba Nalo (54), husband of Yanga Gongo Nalo, and Jumpi Boje Tsering (40) of Forest Colony, Aalo in West Siang district.Two others, a 37-year-old mother accused of selling her daughter in May 2025 and another 37-year-old woman accused of selling four of her own minor children and facilitating the sale of the rescued girl, were not named by police.Police have also served notices under Section 35(3) of the BNSS to three other persons for suspected involvement or knowledge of the network.They were identified as Taba Titu Nabam (42) and Nabam Kokum Hina (42) of C-Sector, Itanagar, and Pinto Nalo of Tapi village in Upper Subansiri district, who had lodged a missing report in 2021 for a trafficked boy still untraceable. Pinto Nalo is a constable in the Arunachal Pradesh Police.The rescued children have been produced before the Child Welfare Committee and placed in recognised shelter homes for care and rehabilitation.The SP said two children linked to the racket remain missing, including a boy untraceable since 2021, and efforts are underway to trace them and identify more victims and perpetrators.He said the racket operated through informal brokers and family-level transactions, with children bought and sold for cash and deployed as domestic workers. Victims were systematically denied schooling, documentation, and basic rights, indicating long-term trafficking links between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.Reiterating zero tolerance towards crimes against women and children, the SP warned residents against engaging minors as domestic workers through agents or intermediaries and urged citizens to report suspected trafficking, child labour, or abuse to police or Childline 1098.He also acknowledged the support of Itanagar WPS officer-in-charge Rina Sonam and her team, the Child Welfare Committee, medical authorities, and the public in cracking the case.–
