Sundargarh is dubious for rampant trafficking of tribal girls even as Childline, a helpline service of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development and the district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) have been trying hard to stop the ignominious trend and rescue and rehabilitate the innocent victims.
However, sometimes they have had to be demoralised not only due to the non-cooperation of the administration, but also for the passive support of the administration to the middlemen, who are active in the human trafficking in the district. A recent incident in the district speaks volume about it.
According to sources, on August 27 last, Childline got telephonic information from the villagers of Bisra block that one Niyaz Ahmed staying at Bisra had collected around 30 tribal girls and was planning to shift them to Delhi and a few other locations in a clandestine manner. Soon, the Childline team rushed to that area and nabbed Ahmed while he was preparing to shift the girls en masse.
On enquiring, he revealed that he was from Kohla area in Uttar Pradesh and was working in an agency that had undertaken a job to impart tailoring training to the underprivileged girls through an agreement with the State Government. He explained that the tribal girls had been trained for two months and were being shifted to Gurgaon, Noida and Delhi for advanced training.
Upon asking to show the documents or agreement on the basis of which he was taking the girls since many girls were ignorant about where they were going, he failed to do it. Even the girls denied that their parents had any inkling about their journey. Ahmed also denied having informed the poor girls’ parents and having any agreement to shift the girls.
The Childline team took him along with the girls to the local Bisra Police station. The IIC and the Sub Inspector of the police station interrogated Ahmed and the girls and seized train tickets of about 27 girls between 18 and 23 years of age for a journey in the 12835 Hatia –Yasbantpur Superfast Express on August 27.
Besides, a few blank hotel bills, two mobile phones and a pen drive were recovered from Ahmed, who confessed that he was taking the girls to Bengaluru to engage them in a factory. He revealed that earlier he had trafficked 23 girls to Bengaluru and that after their operation was over in Sundargarh, his agency’s office had been shifted to Malkangiri for training and recruitment of girls.
When the District labour Officer of Rourkela was also asked about the matter and if he had been informed about the shifting of the girls, he answered in negative.
While the Bisra Police were trying to grill Ahmed and boost the racket, the situation took a U-turn, as they were asked by the higher authorities to stop taking action against Ahmed and hand over the girls to him and facilitate their journey. The higher authorities were the District Collector, the SP and the local BDO.
Helpless, the Childline team immediately rushed to the Rourkela Railway Station to inform the GRP for rescuing the girls. Though the girls’ tickets had been arranged, the journey was put off to avoid the activists and the media. Now, nobody can say about the whereabouts of the girls. Ahmed was allowed to go scot free.
The Childline activists alleged that due to the tacit support of the administration, the traffickers have often been successful in their bid to shift innocent tribal girls from the district.
Meanwhile, furnishing details on the incident, the Childline activists have filed a complaint with the Chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribe, the Chairperson, NCPCR, the Governor, the Chief Minister, the Home Secretary, the Secretary, State Women and Child Development department, ADG of Police, CID and
Crime Branch.