Bihar Human Trafficking: A large human trafficking network is operating in Bihar. Recent operations by the Bihar Police have revealed that underprivileged girls from backward and rural areas are being targeted.
Patna: According to recent investigations and rescue operations by police and social organizations, a highly organized three-tier human trafficking network is reportedly targeting adolescent girls from poor and Dalit families in rural and backward areas of Bihar. This network operates through a well-planned system in which rural girls are lured with false promises of jobs, marriage, friendship, or a better life and taken to major cities across the country. Many victims are later forced into domestic work, bonded labor, or marriages against their will.
What do the statistics say?
These revelations come amid growing concern about the rising number of missing children in Bihar, which is being identified as a major source of human trafficking. According to official data, 12,000 to 14,000 children go missing in Bihar every year. This number reached 14,699 in 2025 alone. Adolescent girls remain the most vulnerable group. Nearly 60 percent of all missing children in the state are girls under the age of 18. The situation was particularly alarming in 2023, when 12,299 children were reported missing. Nearly 75 percent of these were girls, meaning three out of every four missing children were girls.
Police Action Continues
Police and social organizations have rescued thousands of girls over the past two years. During 2024-25, police rescued 1,970 girls, while another 1,492 girls were rescued during 2025-26. These operations have helped investigators understand the structure and functioning of trafficking gangs operating in Bihar and other states. According to investigators, the human trafficking system operates through three interconnected layers.
What do the human trafficking statistics say?
Every year, 12,000 to 14,000 children go missing in Bihar.
This figure reached 14,699 in 2025.
Adolescent and minor girls are most at risk.
Nearly 60 percent of children are girls under the age of 18.
In 2023, 12,299 children were reported missing.
Girls constituted 75 percent of the missing.
Police rescued 1,970 girls during 2024-25.
Another 1,492 girls were rescued during 2025-26.
An active network at the rural level?
At the first stage, local youth act as agents and identify vulnerable girls in villages. Victims are often lured through friendships, love affairs, marriage proposals, or promises of jobs. Agents reportedly work under pressure to recruit girls within a short period of time. Once trust is established, girls are persuaded to leave their homes and villages.
Trafficking Method
After leaving their villages, victims are handed over to transportation networks. They are often transported from one place to another at railway stations and bus terminals. In some cases, victims are allegedly drugged or threatened to comply. They are then transported to distant cities via long-distance trains and other modes of transportation.
Trafficking Centers in Cities!
The final stage operates primarily in metropolitan cities. Victims are reportedly held in undisclosed locations, subjected to physical and mental abuse, and stripped of their identities. Many women are allegedly sold into forced marriage or forced to work as bonded laborers.
Case Study Number One
- A 19-year-old woman from Sahibganj was trafficked to update her Aadhaar card.
- After leaving home, she was allegedly taken to Hyderabad.
- Lured with the promise of employment, the traffickers took her to a nearby city and sold her.
- Police later recovered the 19-year-old woman.
Case Study Number Two
- A 15-year-old student from Rohtas was subjected to human trafficking.
- Her friend lured her, drugged her, and then ran away.
- He took the student to Secunderabad and then escaped.
- The victim was rescued by police at Secunderabad railway station.
Case Study Number Three
An 18-year-old girl from East Champaran was lured and abducted by her friend.
The girl was taken to Secunderabad and forced into bonded labor.
Police rescued the girl before she could be allegedly forced into marriage.
Case Study Number Four
- A 22-year-old woman in Gopalganj went out to buy medicine.
- The woman was first lured with the promise of marriage.
- The woman was then forcibly taken to Kolkata.
- Police successfully recovered the woman after 15 days.
- A rescue team traveled directly from Kolkata to Hyderabad.
- Where a 21-year-old woman from Siwan was rescued from the same network.
Girls Reaching the South!
Experts believe that over six girls have been rescued from Hyderabad and Secunderabad with the help of the police in the last six months. According to them, most of the victims were lured with promises of permanent jobs or marriage. They were forced to work long hours before being prepared for forced marriage.
What does Bihar Police say?
Suhita Anupam, Additional Director General of Police, Vulnerable Classes and Crime Investigation Department, said that major trafficking centers across Bihar are being identified and placed under special surveillance. She said that as a precautionary measure, registration has been made mandatory for orchestra groups and similar organizations. The ADG also said that villages with repeated incidents of human trafficking are being identified and monitored. Anupam further said that an online monitoring system has been established at the police headquarters level to more effectively monitor human trafficking cases. Public awareness and community vigilance remain crucial to prevent human trafficking and protect vulnerable girls from exploitation.
Edited by: Ashutosh Kumar Pandey
About the Author
Ashutosh Kumar Pandey, Courtesy: Hindi News, serves as Principal Digital Content Producer at Navbharat Times (Digital). He joined Navbharat Times, the digital wing of the Times Group, in September 2022. Currently, Ashutosh manages the desk at NBT Bihar-Jharkhand Digital.
Courtesy: Hindi News