A multi-state human trafficking racket has been busted following the arrest of three people, including a woman, accused of selling a young girl from Meghalaya for Rs3 lakh and forcing her into marriage in Rajasthan earlier this year.
The breakthrough came after Meghalaya Police traced leads from a missing person FIR filed on June 11 in the Byrnihat area of Ri-Bhoi district. During the investigation, police discovered that the missing girl had been taken to Rajasthan, where she was held captive before managing to escape and contact authorities.
With the help of Rajasthan Police, she was rescued and brought back to Meghalaya. In her statement, the survivor revealed that she had been befriended on Facebook by a man from Assam who lured her to Delhi and Rajasthan under the false pretext of marriage. Once there, she was sold for Rs3 lakh and forcibly married to an unknown man.
Following the revelation, police arrested Rajesh Hinge (31) of Kumarghat, North Tripura, in Guwahati on October 19. His associate, Md. Khalil Ali (31) of Karabari, Boko (Assam), was arrested on October 21 from Jhalukbari.
A major breakthrough came on October 26, when the alleged kingpin Monika, daughter of Naresh Kumar from Kari village, Nawalgarh (Jhunjhunu district, Rajasthan), was arrested at Kamakhya Railway Station. Police said Monika had trafficked at least six girls—five from Boko and one from Tripura—over the past two years.
Investigators revealed a consistent modus operandi: the traffickers targeted vulnerable women and girls on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, built trust through prolonged online communication, and then lured victims to Delhi, Haryana, or Rajasthan under false promises of marriage or tourism before selling them into exploitation.
Meghalaya Police stated that further investigations are underway to trace other members of the network and rescue additional victims potentially trafficked to other states.
