Nongpoh, Oct 28: Ri-Bhoi police have busted a human trafficking network whose kingpin is a woman and managed to rescue a girl who was sold to a man in Rajasthan.
The modus operandi of the gang was to befriend their victims through social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, initiate chats and phone calls to gain their trust before luring them to places such as Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan on the pretext of marriage, jobs and tourism, and on arrival would be taken into custody and sold off, inform police.
The trafficking story began after Ri-Bhoi police received an FIR on 11th June, this year, informing about the disappearance of a girl from the Byrnihat area.
In the months-long investigation, police came to know that the girl was in Rajasthan and had managed to escape from her confinement. She was rescued with the help of Rajasthan Police and brought back to Meghalaya.
It was during questioning of the rescued girl that the lid on the trafficking network was blown wide open. She was reportedly befriended on Facebook by a man from Assam who promised her marriage. He managed to lure her into traveling to Delhi and Rajasthan for their marriage. But, on arrival in Rajasthan, she was sold and married off to another man for a sum of Rs 3 lakh.
The investigation by Meghalaya police led them to the man who befriended and lured the girl out of the state. He was identified as Rajesh Hinge, aged 31 years, S/o Shri Ratan Singha, resident of Kumarghat, Betchera, North Tripura.
He was the first to be arrested from Guwahati on the 19th of October 2025.
Following his interrogation, police were able to arrest another co-accomplice named Md. Khalil Ali (31), S/o (L) Mohanur Ali, resident of Karabari, Boko police station, Kamrup (Rural) district, Assam on 21st October 2025 from Jhalukbari in Guwahati.
The investigation finally led police to the doorsteps of the kingpin- a woman by the name of Monika, D/o Naresh Kumar, R/o Kari, Ward No. 9, Nawalgarh, from Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan. She was arrested on 26th October 2025 from Kamakhya Railway Station in Guwahati.
Interrogation of all the arrested accused persons revealed that their gang has been operating for the past two years. They are said to have sold off as many as 5 girls from Boko, Assam and 1 girl from Tripura in the last 2 years, the police informed, adding that more arrests are expected.
“The investigation shows a common modus operandi involved in human trafficking i.e., the target is identified and befriended on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc. and after chats and calls for some time, they are lured into going to other places like Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, etc. on the pretext of marriage, tourism, etc. and then sold off. Therefore, our children need to be more aware and inform the parents if any such incident occurs,” advised SSP Vivekanand singh Rathore.
They should be very careful and alert as the same modus operandi may be used to commit other crimes like Cyber Fraud, UPI fraud, Blackmailing, etc. They should not install any unknown application or click any suspicious link else their mobile phones and computers may be compromised, warned SSP Rathore.
