Three minors, including one girl, were rescued from Dharmanagar on Saturday in North Tripura district a day after they went missing from Khowai district, the police said.
All the minors are school students and stay in Khowai. Speaking to reporters, the Dharmanagar police said a deep search was conducted across different areas after the Khowai police alerted them of the minors going missing.
Later, they found the minors at Latugao, barely one kilometre away from the Dharmanagar railway station, with the initiative of a local. They were planning to move to Guwahati from Dharmanagar, the police said.
“If they had crossed Dharmanagar and entered into the neighbouring state, then it would have been difficult on our part to find them. However, we have found them, rescued them and called their parents. We have handed them over to their parents after completing some formalities,” Dharmanagar sub divisional police officer Debasish Saha told mediapersons.
Replying to a query, Saha said although they are not fully clear about the reasons behind their leaving homes, the police, in their preliminary probe, found that the three minors might have some domestic issues with their parents due to which they left homes.
“They came out voluntarily. They had some domestic issues with their parents,” he said.
No case has been lodged at Dharmanagar police station, the officer said.
While Tripura recently pointed out human trafficking and child marriages among major concerns faced by the state government, the state is also struggling with drug abuse, especially among young adults.
Two months back, Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha asked parents, teachers, social clubs and different stakeholders to keep a strict vigil on children and teenagers on their drug abuse habits. The state government has also recently taken a strict stand against child marriages and has prevented a series of attempts to marry off underage minors.
