Bettiah: A joint team of the district administration and police rescued six minor girls from an orchestra allegedly used for sexual exploitation in West Champaran district on Saturday night. The raid was conducted around 2am at Bahuarwa village under Shanishchari police station area in Yogapatti block, following specific inputs about illegal activities.Bettiah SDPO (II) Rajnikant Priyadarshi said the action was taken swiftly after credible information was received. “Police have arrested five people in connection with the case, including orchestra operator Rambabu Gupta and Abhay Kumar Yadav. Police received inputs that minor girls were being exploited in an orchestra. Acting on the tip-off, a raid was carried out at the operator’s residence, and the girls were rescued,” he said.Officials said five of the rescued girls are from West Bengal, while one is from Nepal. All of them have been placed under administrative protection, and further investigation is underway.Alok Kumar, district coordinator of the Child Helpline Centre, said the information about the racket was initially shared by a Patna-based NGO. He added that the girls had allegedly been brought under the pretext of employment.“One of the girls is pregnant. The victims have been sent for counselling and rehabilitation support,” he said. Police are now probing the extent of the network and possible links to trafficking.
