Raipur: A Chhattisgarh man, alleged to be involved in human trafficking, has been arrested with 14 tribal girls and six others from the state's poverty hit Jashpur district, police said Friday.
Mrinal Nayak, 26, was arrested Thursday night from the tribal-dominated Kunkuri area, about 400 km north of Raipur.
"We had been tracking a youth for several weeks for his active involvement in a human trafficking racket and finally arrested him from a bus stand at Kunkuri when he was taking away 20 local persons, mostly minors, including 14 girls," police officer R. Kaushik told IANS over phone.
"It is a clear case of human trafficking but police need more strong evidence to ensure his conviction in court," he said, adding that the youth belonged to Orissa.
Over the last decade, there have been several cases of human trafficking in Chhattisgarh's northern regions of Surguja, Korba, Jashpur, Koria and Raigarh. Traffickers lure impoverished tribal girls by promising them jobs in big cities but force them into prostitution.
IANS
First Published: Friday, November 11, 2011, 12:25