Main accused in minor trafficking case held from Jashpur after 4 yrs

Raipur: A man accused of conspiring to traffic a 17-year-old girl to Rajasthan to allegedly sell her for Rs 20,000 under the guise of marriage has been arrested from Jashpur district, nearly four years after the case came to light.

Three of his alleged associates were arrested in 2022.The accused was apprehended from his native village Joradol in Jashpur during a crackdown on absconding accused under Raigarh police’s “operation clean hunt.” He was produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody.Raigarh SSP Shashi Mohan Singh said the case dates back to June 2022, when the father of the minor lodged a missing complaint at Dharamjaigarh police station after his daughter disappeared from home.

When she could not be traced despite extensive searches, police registered a kidnapping case and launched an investigation.During the probe, the girl was rescued by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) from a train at Anuppur railway station in Madhya Pradesh. She was found to be travelling with two suspects, who were subsequently taken into custody by Dharamjaigarh police.Investigators alleged that the two had lured the minor and planned to take her to Rajasthan, where she was to be sold for Rs 20,000 on the pretext of marriage. Following the revelations, police invoked charges related to human trafficking, criminal conspiracy, kidnapping and wrongful confinement.Three suspects were arrested and sent to jail in 2022, while Rama Chauhan remained absconding. Acting on a tip-off that he had returned to his village in Jashpur, a Dharamjaigarh police team arrested him in a raid.