56 Women Rescued from Trafficking Ring in Bengal

In a massive anti-trafficking breakthrough, 56 women were rescued on Monday night from a New Jalpaiguri-bound train near the Malda Town station, raising red flags once again about the intensifying human trafficking crisis in North Bengal. The women, mostly aged between 17 and 32, were from some of the most underdeveloped areas of Alipurduar, Falakata, Dhupguri, Cooch Behar, Hasimara, and Tufanganj – regions that sit perilously close to the Indo-Bhutan and Indo-Bangladesh borders and have long been vulnerable to trafficking networks due to their socio-economic distress and administrative neglect.

According to the Government Railway Police (GRP), two men escorting the women claimed they were headed to Bengaluru to join garment factories. However, inconsistencies in their statements, along with the complete absence of appointment letters, identity verification, or travel affidavits, led to their detention. The rescued women, many of whom come from broken families or single-mother households surviving on daily-wage work in tea estates or bidi-making units, were promised jobs with a monthly salary of ₹9,000–₹12,000 – amounts that far exceed what they earn back home, often no more than ₹120–₹180 per day. Several of them had dropped out of school or college, while others were told their documentation would be arranged “after reaching”.

Preliminary investigations by Malda GRP and Jalpaiguri CID officers point towards a growing syndicate operating across the Terai and Dooars regions. This syndicate allegedly has roots in Hasimara – a known transit point due to its strategic railway and roadway linkages and close proximity to Jaigaon and Bhutan’s Phuentsholing. “We are looking into previous FIRs filed in Falakata and Kalchini police stations regarding missing girls and will cross-match details”, said a senior CID official. “One of the detained suspects, a resident of Uttar Dinajpur, was previously named in a 2022 trafficking case but was acquitted due to lack of evidence”.

NGOs working in the region, such as Goranbose Gram Bikas Kendra and North Bengal Network for Anti-Trafficking, have been warning about a spike in cross-border movement and undocumented migration. According to their field data, at least 187 girls from Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts went missing in the last 18 months. Most cases go unreported due to stigma, under-policing, and the transient nature of families dependent on seasonal labour. A field worker from Rajabhatkhawa near Buxa Tiger Reserve revealed that many trafficked women are routed through Nepal and then sent to Gulf countries under false nursing or housekeeping contracts.

Silchar, Kishanganj, and Katihar junctions have also emerged as active feeder points in recent years. A 2023 Intelligence Bureau report flagged the Siliguri corridor as a critical “red zone”, with nearly 37% of trafficking cases involving inter-state or international elements. Several of these women, once out of the radar, are believed to be pushed into domestic servitude, illegal bar work, or sex trade in metros like Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad – or worse, trafficked into Malaysia or Oman through agents operating via Kathmandu.

While the West Bengal Police’s Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) has rescued over 1,200 women and minors since 2021, the conviction rate remains abysmally low – hovering under 10% in trafficking-related cases. “We don’t need just rescue operations. We need witness protection, fast-track courts, and rural employment policies that prevent desperation”, said Sampa Saha, programme director at Sanlaap, an anti-trafficking NGO. In many cases, survivors return to find their traffickers back in the same villages, emboldened and unpunished.

The state’s Women and Child Development Department has ordered a probe into whether the traffickers had help from local political or law enforcement figures. Meanwhile, the rescued women are being held at a shelter home in Malda, where counsellors report high levels of trauma, disorientation, and reluctance to return home due to shame and fear of reprisal.

As Bengal continues to serve both as a source and transit state in trafficking chains stretching across South Asia, this rescue is both a moment of hope and a sobering call to rethink ground-level safeguards, border surveillance, and the narratives around female mobility and labour migration in post-pandemic rural India.