Last month, the CID raided a hotel in Mahisadal in East Midnapore and rescued nine girls. Later, three more girls were rescued from Diamond Harbour by a local NGO. According to the NGO, the number of such missing girls can be huge.

Rita Mondol (name changed) was one of girls who had been rescued from the Saheb Hotel in Midnapore. She said she was buying tickets for Kolkata at the Joynagar station when she fell short of change and a local helped her and accompanied her in the train.

Mondol was later forced to get off at the Baruipur station from where she was taken to the Diamond Harbour and drugged. When she regained her senses, she found herself in the hotel. Several other girls from South 24 Parganas have spoken about a similar modus operandi.

Shaktipada Mondol, who is attached to the Kaikhali Samadhan Samity, an NGO working for the cause of trafficked women and children, said that the girls who were abducted were mainly from Canning, Kultali and Basanti.

“The case came to light when a local boy visited one of the girls who was being solicited and she appealed to him for help. She passed on a phone number through which her family could be located. That is how the entire thing came to light,” said Mondol.