Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Itanagar: Police arrested three brokers and rescued 19 children during an anti-trafficking operation across Arunachal Pradesh. The Namsai police station opened the case on August 17 after receiving a formal complaint from the district Child Welfare Committee. Officers found the victims in Mechuka, Aalo, Pasighat, Naharlagun, Itanagar, and Longding.
A Special Investigation Team now leads the probe into this inter-district network. Most children are under eight years old. The youngest is only three. Investigators learned that intermediaries targeted poor families with empty promises of quality education and care. These brokers then moved the kids to distant locations for domestic labor and hotel jobs. Namsai Superintendent of Police Sange Thinley noted the scale of the exploitation. "Police have also uncovered suspected monetary transactions ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 per child involving some intermediaries and parents," Thinley said.
Authorities already recorded statements from the victims before a magistrate. The SIT is scouring call records, digital evidence, and bank accounts to find more suspects. Police urge the public to report any information on children currently in similar danger as the hunt for more traffickers continues.
Updated at 25th August 2026 at 5:49pm
Police confirmed the three suspects were officially taken into custody on Tuesday, August 25. Investigators also clarified the specific districts where victims were located, noting that the children were recovered from Shi-Yomi and West Siang in addition to the previously identified locations.
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