Sidhwa Dona: Trafficker Bigan Rai held from Bihar

Jalandhar, April 17

Bigan Rai, who trafficked at least 15 children from Bihar and Nepal to Punjab to be employed as cheap labour on potato farms, was arrested by a Bihar Police team from near the Nepal border on Wednesday. A resident of Jaynagar in Sonbarsa (of Sitamarhi district) Bihar, the trafficker was looking to escape to Nepal when he was nabbed by Sitamarhi police.

All 13 children, who were trafficked by Bigan Rai, had been arrested from a potato farm at Sidhwa Dona village in Kapurthala district on April 6. The arrests were made on the complaint of a Sitamarhi resident whose both children had been trafficked by Bigan Rai. A case had been registered by the Sitamarhi police station on March 23.

A resident of Sitamarhi, the complainant’s both children — 14-year-old and 12-year-old — were not found at Sidhwa Dona farms, they were later found from Bigan Rai’s neighbour’s home in Bihar by Bihar Police. A few days later, the police also nabbed Bigan Rai who had been absconding.