Police Gets Remand of Alleged Trafficker of 18 State Girls

IMPHAL, Oct 3: A woman detained by the police on the alleged charge of attempt to traffick 18 girls from Manipur to Chennai in Tamil Nadu was produced in a local court and remanded to police custody till the 8th of this month.Police also handed over all the 18 girls to their respective families after verification, an official source said today.On Tuesday last a woman named Apam Khamrang, aged around 30 years, hailing from Ukhrul district of Manipur was detained by the Sekmai police at a check post along the NH-39 along with the 18 minor girls during checking of an inter-state bus bearing registration no. MN-01-1852.The latest case of rescue of 18 girls by the state police, it is pertinent to mention, came amidst the reports of four girls from Tamenglong district escaping from their employers after they were transported to Malaysia.There have been various reports of rescue of minor children from Manipur at various places in the country like Dimapur in Nagaland and from Chennai in Tamil Nadu in the recent times.Of the 18 girls rescued by the Sekmai police on Tuesday, 14 are from villages in Ukhrul district, three are from Senapati district, while one is from Churachandpur district. They are aged between 11 to 23 years.Police said that the alleged trafficker along with the 18 minor girls were detained by the Sekmai police when they were detected during frisking and checking for trafficking of children on October 1 from a bus.Police personnel at Sekmai police station which is the first exit gate from Imphal along the Imphal-Dimapur section of the NH-39 had been keeping a close vigil for trafficking of children after various cases were reported on this route, the source said.During police interrogation, the alleged accused Apam Khamrang has reportedly disclosed that the girls were being carried to Chennai for employment in private jobs in a company.Police sources, however, said that the girls themselves could not give the exact reasons for going to Chennai.“Apam is suspected of procuring the girls, disposing them or using them for illegal purposes by cheating their parents for her wrongful gain. Her act amounts to organized child trafficking,” the police case registered against Apam states.She was produced in the court of the chief judicial magistrate, Imphal west with a prayer for remand to police custody as further interrogation is needed for investigations into the child trafficking cases in the state.The court remanded her upto October 8 in police custody, the source added.It further said that all the 18 girls have been handed over to their respective guardians through the Imphal police station.