DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Police rescued a 15-year-old girl from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh on Monday and arrested four people, including her mother, after an investigation into an alleged abduction revealed a suspected child trafficking deal.
The mother, a resident of Dehradun’s Rajpur area, had reported her daughter missing on July 5, following which police registered a case against unidentified persons and formed a team to trace the child.
Investigators used mobile surveillance, CCTV footage and field intelligence to track the girl to Muzaffarnagar. During a raid, police arrested Manish and Lavi Kumar and safely recovered the teenager from their custody, officials said.
“Questioning revealed that the abduction complaint was allegedly fabricated following a dispute over payment,” Rajpur station house officer P D Bhatt said.
According to police, Lavi Kumar told investigators that he had purchased the minor from her mother through Pinky Malik for Rs 1.5 lakh. He later sold the girl to Manish for Rs 2 lakh, allegedly for the purpose of marriage.
Police subsequently arrested Malik in Muzaffarnagar and the girl’s mother in Dehradun. The mother allegedly told investigators that she had met Malik at a function and, due to financial difficulties, agreed to sell her daughter for Rs 1.5 lakh.
She received Rs 80,000, while the remaining amount was promised later, police said. When the balance payment was not made and she feared the crime would be exposed, she allegedly filed a false kidnapping complaint to mislead investigators.
Bhatt said Sections 64, 65(1), 87, 143 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita had been added to the case, along with Sections 5(L)/6 and 16/17 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
The arrested men were identified as Manish, a resident of Jansath in Muzaffarnagar, and Lavi Kumar, from Phalawda in Meerut. Malik is from New Mandi in Muzaffarnagar. Police withheld the mother’s identity to protect the child.
Police said they were examining whether any of the accused had previous involvement in the sale of minors or other trafficking cases. The team is also working to identify other members of the suspected network and determine whether more children were targeted.
“The girl was recovered safely, and the investigation is continuing to establish the role of every person connected with the transaction,” Bhatt said.
