Jhalawar police bust interstate human trafficking racket; 5 arrested, 10 girls rescued

Jaipur: Jhalawar police have busted an interstate human trafficking racket that allegedly targeted minor girls from economically vulnerable families, transported them across state lines and forced them into prostitution through dance bars in metropolitan cities, officials said on Friday.Police said 10 girls, including seven minors, were rescued during the operation. Five alleged members of the trafficking network have been arrested, while one more accused has been detained.The arrested accused were identified as Ramkanya Kanjar (53), Bhimshankar alias Bhima (28), Ankush Karmavat (26), Ramesh Kanjar (55) and Sunny Kanjar (40). Banti Kanjar has been detained. Police said efforts are ongoing to arrest suspects in Mumbai and other states as the investigation continues.Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar said the investigation began after reports pointed to possible trafficking links in Jhalawar district. As families of the girls allegedly refused to cooperate with investigators, police formed a special team led by Additional SP Shyorajmal Meena to carry out a confidential inquiry.The probe found that an organised network allegedly focused on financially distressed families from the Kanjar community, promising jobs, financial help and a better future for their daughters, police said. Investigators allege the girls were trafficked and later sold to brokers operating in cities such as Mumbai and Nagpur.Police said the accused forged Aadhaar and other identity documents to inflate the ages of minors and show them as adults before placing them in dance bars and pushing them into the commercial sex trade. Officials further alleged that the traffickers changed victims’ names and addresses using fake documentation to make tracing them difficult.A key breakthrough came when Jhalawar police coordinated with Mumbai police after four girls rescued in a Prevention of Immoral Traffic Act case registered at Nerul police station in Navi Mumbai were brought back to Rajasthan. Police said two of those girls were found to be minors despite documents claiming they were adults, highlighting the alleged use of forged records.A Special Investigation Team was then constituted and teams were sent to multiple states. With assistance from Mumbai police, Jhalawar police rescued four additional girls from Mumbai and detained a suspect allegedly linked to the racket. Separate teams also recovered one girl each from Bundi and Tonk districts.According to police, analysis of seized mobile phones and digital devices revealed a three-tier structure involving local recruiters, regional brokers and metropolitan operators. Investigators said local agents identified girls in vulnerable households and passed details to middlemen, who allegedly used false promises and financial inducements, obtained signatures and thumb impressions on stamp papers, and sold victims onward.Police described agreements recovered during the probe as “shocking and inhuman”, alleging they contained clauses requiring families to repay several times the received amount if a girl tried to escape, and stating liability would end only if the victim died.