IPS officer Mallika Banerjee’s undercover work in Chhattisgarh in 2016 exposed child-trafficking networks disguised as job placement schemes, leading to the rescue of trafficked children and the shutdown of multiple illegal agencies.

Her early efforts presaged a continuing, wider national crisis: recent police operations across India from inter-state rackets busted in Gujarat and Jharkhand to rising child labour rescues in Delhi show trafficking remains pervasive.

Government and civil society data indicate tens of thousands of children have been rescued from labour and trafficking between 2024 and 2025, with courts and commissions urging stronger legal action and improved systems. This story reflects both past courage and the ongoing challenge of protecting India’s children.

Undercover Policing and Ongoing Rescues

Mallika Banerjee’s decision in 2016 to go undercover as a door-to-door saleswoman in villages of Chhattisgarh helped her elicit information that traditional policing missed, leading to reopened cases and rescues of more than 20 children who had been trafficked under the guise of job opportunities in big cities.

Her team exposed roughly 25 illegal placement agencies that preyed on vulnerable families, illustrating how traffickers often operate quietly, presenting exploitation as opportunity.

While Banerjee’s work was methodical police procedure rather than cinematic heroism, it anticipated the broader patterns authorities now confront across India.

In Gujarat, a joint police operation recently dismantled an inter-state trafficking racket, rescuing a newborn en route to Hyderabad and arresting four suspects linked to a layered network of middlemen who bought and sold infants for profit. The case underscores how trafficking networks remain active across state lines and exploit gaps in inter-jurisdictional monitoring.

In neighbouring Jharkhand, police intelligence led to the bust of another inter-state gang and the rescue of 12 children aged 4 to 12, with at least 13 suspects arrested across Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand. Officials described the ring as an “active inter-state child theft gang,” highlighting how traffickers abduct children from vulnerable districts and move them across borders for exploitation.

Separate operations by local authorities also show how trafficking can exploit community events and trust. Kolkata police recently rescued a minor girl in a case where she had been allegedly abducted by a group posing as an “orchestra” troupe at cultural events a tactic traffickers sometimes use to gain familiarity with families and lure children before exploiting them.

These interventions illustrate that, even years after Banerjee’s undercover infiltration, ground-level policing and intelligence work remain crucial in dismantling networks that hide in ordinary contexts.

The Scale of the Crisis: Data and National Responses

The scale of child trafficking and exploitation in India extends far beyond isolated gangs. A recent report published by the Centre for Legal Action and Behaviour Change (C-LAB), based on data from civil society organisations collaborating with law enforcement, found that 53,651 children were rescued from child labour and trafficking between April 2024 and March 2025. These operations resulted in nearly 38,388 FIRs and thousands of arrests across 24 states and union territories.

The report highlights that an overwhelming proportion of rescues involved children in the “worst forms” of exploitative labour often in sectors like spas, massage parlours, orchestras or brothel-like environments where trafficking overlaps with sexual exploitation and forced labour.

Telangana, Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi emerged as key states where such rescues were concentrated, underscoring the need for targeted enforcement alongside prevention and rehabilitation strategies.

Delhi has seen a particularly worrying trend: child labour rescues jumped by 51 per cent in the first five months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, with police freeing 202 trafficked or forced labour children and arresting 22 alleged offenders. Many of the rescued children were trafficked from poorer states like Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, lured by false promises of stable jobs and a better life in the capital.

At the institutional level, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) reported rescuing over 2,300 children across India in six months through coordinated case disposal and field operations, while also launching a pan-India rescue and rehabilitation campaign to strengthen systemic responses to trafficking and exploitation.

In the Odisha Legislative Assembly, state leadership cited 1,305 individuals trafficked in the state, including 348 minors, based on data from the National Crime Records Bureau signalling how widespread the problem remains despite intensified enforcement.

Judicial institutions are also pushing for reform: the Supreme Court of India has described child trafficking as “very rampant” in Delhi and sought comprehensive reports from the central government, while urging faster completion of trials to ensure traffickers are held accountable without prolonged delays.

The Human Face and Broader Threats

Beyond numbers and arrests lies the human toll that trafficking exacts from children and families. Children forced into exploitative labour or sexual exploitation suffer long-term psychological trauma, disruption of education and fractured family ties. Rescues only represent the first step; rehabilitation, counselling, and reintegration into society are equally critical.

Traffickers exploit poverty, lack of awareness and gaps in protective systems, using familiar social structures and mundane job offers to deceive families. Conferences between India and neighbouring Nepal have highlighted how porous borders and the absence of standard procedures complicate cross-border rescues and repatriation of trafficked children, calling for stronger bilateral coordination.

The Logical Indian’s Perspective

Mallika Banerjee’s story remains a powerful reminder that empathy, patience and creative policing can break cycles of silence and neglect. Yet the continuing tide of trafficking cases whether involving newborns sold for profit, children forced into labour or minors abducted at cultural events shows that systemic vulnerabilities persist.

Law enforcement, civil society, and communities must work together to strengthen prevention, ensure swift justice, and provide effective rehabilitation and social support. The Logical Indian believes that ending child trafficking requires not just reactive policing but proactive education, economic opportunity and collective vigilance so that every child can thrive without fear.