Patna: Bihar Police rescued 157 trafficking victims and arrested 109 traffickers during Operation Naya Savera 3.0, a statewide anti-human trafficking drive conducted from July 1 to July 14. The special campaign targeted child labour, commercial sexual exploitation, orchestra groups and other forms of human trafficking with support from several NGOs.According to figures released by Bihar Police Headquarters, police registered 52 FIRs during the two-week operation. The rescued victims included 82 females—30 adults and 52 girls below 18 years of age—and 75 boys rescued from child labour and other trafficking-related activities. Police arrested 52 male and 57 female traffickers, taking the total number of arrests to 109.ADG (Law and Order-cum-Weaker Sections) K Suhita Anupam on Wednesday said child labour cases accounted for the highest number of FIRs during the drive. “A total of 25 cases related to child labour were registered, leading to the rescue of 60 boys. Under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA), police registered 12 cases, rescued 53 women and girls and arrested 88 traffickers, making it the category with the highest number of arrests,” she said.Police also registered nine cases related to orchestra groups, resulting in the rescue of 25 minor girls and the arrest of five accused. Another six trafficking cases led to the rescue of four girls and 15 boys and the arrest of 16 suspects.The operation was launched following the success of the earlier Naya Savera and Naya Savera 2.0 campaigns, which focused on rescuing victims from child labour, red-light areas and orchestra groups while facilitating their rehabilitation and reintegration. NGOs assisted police in identifying victims, carrying out rescue operations and facilitating rehabilitation.Bihar Police also highlighted several significant interventions during July. In one case, minors allegedly lured with false promises of govt jobs and forced into labour without wages were rescued, while the traffickers involved were arrested.In another breakthrough, the Government Railway Police (GRP) at Jamalpur rescued a three-year-old abducted child after receiving information that the child had been kidnapped from a woman’s lap at a railway station in Munger district on July 4. Police subsequently busted a trafficking network and arrested several accused in connection with the case.The ADG said Bihar Police has also uploaded details of 10,589 missing children on the Mission Vatsalya portal, reorganised Special Juvenile Police Units in all 44 police districts, strengthened anti-trafficking awareness campaigns and verified govt and private women’s hostels to improve security infrastructure, including CCTV surveillance and biometric attendance systems.
