Courageous Class 12 girl helps bust sex racket

Darjeeling, March 23 (IANS) The bravery of a class 12 school girl resulted in the busting of a sex racket and the arrest of four people, including a married couple, here. A Rs.5,000 award was announced for the student whose efforts also resulted in a woman being saved from trafficking.

The accused Nabin Thapa -- arrested from Siliguri, and Vishal Labar and Samir Thatal -- arrested from Darjeeling -- have been sent to 10 days' police custody while Thapa's wife Abanita Thapa was admitted to a hospital after she complained of ill-health following her arrest.

'The arrests have brought to light a trafficking gang operating in this region and also running a prostitution racket in Delhi. We can expect more arrests in the near future,' said Darjeeling Superintendent of Police, Anant Kumar.

Police have also sought help from the Delhi Police to nab others involved in the racket.

The Thapa couple approached the victim - a divorcee and a mother of two - with promise of a job which she was desperately seeking. She was offered a highly rewarding job in Delhi.

After she agreed to the job, she was told that she would be picked up by two men (Labar and Thatal) who would take her to Delhi for the promised job. She got regular calls from a Delhi number giving details about the job and the men who would accompany her.

Days before she was supposed to leave for Delhi, the woman met the school student and during a casual chat, told her the job offer.

The student who earlier had attended a workshop on trafficking, organised by an NGO in her school, grew suspicious about the job promise and started calling the Delhi number seeking a job for herself.

During her talks with the job agent, she realised that it was a trafficking racket and immediately contacted the NGO and police who later laid a trap and nabbed the culprits. The identity of the student, victim and the NGO has not been revealed by the police.

For her bravery, the CID has announced a cash reward of Rs.5,000 for the girl student.

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