Bhubaneswar: A total of 36,420 women and 8,403 children went missing in Odisha over the past five years, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi informed the assembly Monday.
Majhi said 421 women were trafficked to other states through middlemen, leading to the arrest of 453 people.
The police have been immediately registering cases on the basis of complaints and it has taken action to trace the trafficked women, he said in a written reply to the House.
During 2020-2024, a total of 1,417 women and 1,857 children who had gone missing were traced, the CM said. Besides, the state government has also rescued 784 child labourers.
Elaborating on the steps taken to prevent women and child trafficking in Odisha, Majhi said 36 Integrated Anti Human Trafficking Units (IAHTUs) have been created.
IAHTUs have been made contact points to deal with such cases in Bolangir, Nuapada, Bargarh, Kalahandi, Sambalpur and Jharsuguda, he said.
Awareness campaigns to prevent trafficking cases are being organised at the police station level. Police patrolling has also been strengthened in vulnerable areas like bus stands and railway stations, Majhi said.
Special training is also being provided to police personnel to identify, conduct investigations and avoid the recurrence of such incidents.
In another written reply, the chief minister informed that 6,437 cases of kidnapping/abduction of women were registered in different police stations of Odisha during 2024, and 413 people have been arrested in connection with these cases.
PTI
