Patna: A man from Muzaffarpur district was arrested for allegedly trafficking his girlfriend to a red-light area in West Bengal after luring her with the promise of marriage. The accused, Rohit Kumar, allegedly sold the young woman for Rs 2 lakh and fled, leaving her trapped far from home.The case came to light after the woman’s mother in East Champaran reported her daughter missing on Oct 8. Based on her complaint, police registered a kidnapping case naming Rohit as the accused and formed a special team to trace the woman and ensure her safe return.During the investigation, police learnt that the woman had managed to access a mobile phone in the red-light area and call her mother, narrating her ordeal and pleading for help. “Get me out of here quickly, or I will die,” she reportedly told her mother.Police traced the phone number to Kolkata and obtained a photograph of the woman from her family. On Oct 10, a police team, with assistance from West Bengal police, reached the red-light area in Pozipoda. Bihar police personnel posed as customers and saw the women presented to them. They then used the photograph to identify the woman without raising suspicion. She was subsequently rescued safely.Police arrested Rohit, a resident of Shahpurpatti under Sahebganj police station in Muzaffarpur district. During interrogation, he confessed to selling the woman for Rs 2 lakh. He was sent to judicial custody on Friday.According to police, Rohit had met the woman around a year ago while visiting her village, where his sister’s in-laws live. The two gradually developed a relationship and agreed to marry. The youth allegedly exploited her trust by calling her to Motihari railway station, where two associates were waiting. They persuaded her to travel to Kolkata, assuring her that Rohit would join them later. Instead, she was allegedly sold to a racket.Investigators suspect the case is linked to a wider human trafficking network. Police said Rohit allegedly lured young women with promises of love and marriage before taking them to railway stations, from where associates transported them to red-light areas in other states and sold them.During interrogation, Rohit reportedly named three other suspected members of the network — Pankaj, Prince and Soni, all from Muzaffarpur. Police are investigating their alleged roles and trying to establish how many women may have been trafficked by the group.Station house officer Rahul Kumar said the arrested accused was sent to jail and raids were underway to apprehend the absconding suspects. Police are continuing the investigation to identify other members of the alleged racket and establish the full extent of its operations, he added.
