Guwahati, Nov 1 (IANS): Assam Police have busted a human trafficking racket and rescued a minor girl who was abducted from the Sarthebari area in the Barpeta district, officials said on Tuesday.

Two persons alleged to be involved in human trafficking were also arrested by the police.

A senior police officer informed that the minor girl was abducted from the Sarthebari area a year back. Police at that time launched an operation and arrested Sahar Ali alias Bablu in this case.

Interrogating Ali, police came to know that he has sold the minor girl somewhere in Haryana for Rs 1.2 lakh.

Police were searching for the minor since that time. The officer said that recently Assam police with the help of Haryana police rescued the abducted girl.

Two persons identified as Rajesh Kumar and Anil Kumar were arrested in this connection. Police have been investigating to unearth further linkages to the human trafficking racket.

Notably, human trafficking is one of the most distressing problems in Assam for many years. According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, the state registered the third-highest number of cases in the last year.

In 2021, over 203 cases of human trafficking were registered as compared to 124 cases in 2020.

As many as 460 victims were trafficked from the state, while 425 victims were rescued in 2021, as per the NCRB data.