Panitanki: Seven Nepali teenage girls, who were lured to India with false promises of employment, have been rescued by Indian police at the Panitanki border checkpoint.
According to National News Agency Nepal, Govinda Ghimire, Coordinator of Koshi Province for Maiti Nepal, reported that two Nepali men involved in the alleged trafficking of the girls were arrested by the Indian police. Coordinator Ghimire shared that the rescue operation took place last Friday, and the girls along with the accused are currently held at Kharibari police station in Siliguri, India.
The rescued teenagers, all from the Sankhuwasabha district, were reportedly lured under false promises of jobs in Hong Kong. The accused traffickers have been identified as Dipesh Gurung, 41, of Toribari in Darjeeling, India, and Japan Gurung, 61, of Makalu rural municipality-3 in Sankhuwasabha district.
It has been learned that the accused traffickers brought the girls across the border at Panitanki via Kakarvitta, a border point in the eastern part of Nepal. Indian police intercepted them while they were en route to Siliguri with fake travel documents. A team including Coordinator Ghimire arrived at Panitanki on the same day of the rescue operation. However, Indian police have kept both the alleged survivors and traffickers in custody to proceed with necessary legal procedures.
Area Police Office, Kakarvitta stated that they had not received any official information from the Indian police regarding this case.