Jharkhand Police bust inter-state child trafficking gang, over 12 arrested

Jharkhand Police on Sunday busted an inter-state child trafficking racket after tracing two kidnapped siblings from Ranchi’s Dhurwa area, leading to the rescue of 16 children from different parts of the state. The children were allegedly forced into theft and begging, while girls were groomed for prostitution after growing up, according to police officials.

The breakthrough came during the investigation into the abduction of Ansh and Anshika, who had gone missing earlier this month. Acting on leads, a special investigation team recovered the siblings and 10 other children, foiling the gang’s plan to sell them after a price had already been fixed.

Senior police officials said the gang, known as the ‘Gulgulia gang’, has been active for nearly a decade and operates across Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, with its hub in Aurangabad, Bihar. The group primarily targeted children from economically weaker families, exploiting their parents’ lack of legal awareness.

So far, 13 to 16 members of the gang, including women, have been arrested from multiple states, while interrogation of several suspects is ongoing. The rescued children have been kept at Dhurwa police station, where arrangements are being made for DNA tests to identify their parents before beginning the process of family reunification.