Three held for trafficking girls in Delhi

Three people have been arrested for their alleged role in human trafficking, Delhi Police said on Tuesday. Two girls, including a minor, have been recovered.

Arvind, 26, the kingpin of the human trafficking racket, was arrested along with the two buyers, identified as Narender, 30, and Sandeep, 22 - all residents of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.

Police said the gang trafficked poor girls from New and Old Delhi Railway stations to Uttar Pradesh and other states.

"The gang is involved in trafficking of poor girls belonging to Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar," Joint commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav said.

Yadav said the two girls, one of them a minor, have been recovered and seven more have been identified.

Police busted the gang while probing the kidnapping of a girl from Gumla in Jharkhand, who went missing from Old Delhi Railway station on October 5. She was recovered from the house of Sandeep in Muzaffarnagar on December 3.

The girl, along with her cousin, was kidnapped by Arvind and his wife Anjali on October 5. A hunt is on for Anjali, police said.

Police said that the accused couple forcibly solemnized her marriage with Sandeep.

During interrogation, Sandeep and Arvind disclosed that they have kidnapped around 12 girls since April.

"All the girls were sold for further forced marriages with some persons in the areas of Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh," Yadav said.

The official said the buyers were those who could not get bride in their community due to adverse sex ratio and other reasons.

"It was also established that the girls were sold to the prospective grooms for a consideration amounting to Rs.40,000-60,000," Yadav said.

The official said that the gang was operating since April and it would specially choose early hours of the day to induce the poor girls, particularly those hailing from Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Police are hunting for another criminal, Ravi Pandit, who is also actively involved in the racket.