According to the police, several other minor girls from the district have spoken out about being lured by strangers before being drugged and taken to hotels.

Last month, the CID raided a hotel at Mahishadal in East Midnapore and rescued nine girls. Later, three more girls were picked up from Diamond Harbour by a local NGO, but officials at the NGO claim many more are missing.

Rita Mondol (name changed), who was among the nine rescued from Saheb Hotel in Midnapore, was buying her ticket for Kolkata at the Joynagar station when she fell short on change. A local boy offered help, boarded the train with her and later forced her to get down at the Baruipur station from where she was taken to Diamond Harbour and drugged. When she woke up, she found herself in a hotel.

Similarly, Gita and Champa Dey (names changed) were travelling to their aunt’s house on the local train when they were befriended by some youth, who offered them biscuits. They lost consciousness and woke up in the hotel.

Shaktipada Mondol of Kaikhali Samadhan Samiti, an NGO working to check trafficking in women and children, said the abducted girls were mainly from Canning, Kultali and Basanti.

“The case came to light when a local boy visited one of the victim girls. She pleaded for help and managed to pass a phone number where her family could be contacted,” said Mondol. All nine girls were being held captive in the hotel for nearly a month.

Policemen from the Canning Police station, where a number of cases of the missing girls had been reported, had managed to nab one of the agents responsible for trafficking.

The rescued girls, however, claim there are still many who have not been traced. “They have told us that there were around 62 girls in the group and most of them have not been traced as yet,” said Mondol.