How A Railway Passenger’s Tweet Helped Rescue 26 Minor Girls From Being Trafficked

A passenger, with the twitter handle Adarsh Shrivastava, was on board when he noticed suspicious activity in his coach.

By: Rakesh Jha |
July 7, 2018 12:22 pm

As many as 26 minor girls were rescued by the Railway police from Muzaffarpur-Bandra Awadh Express near Gorakhpur on Thursday after a passenger used Twitter to alert them. A passenger, with the twitter handle Adarsh Shrivastava, was on board when he noticed suspicious activity in his coach.

The passenger tweeted that he was travelling in the S5 coach of the train and have seen around 25 girls crying and looked ‘insecure’.

I am traveling in Avadh express(19040). in s5. in my coach their are 25 girls all are juvenile some of them are crying and all feeling unsecure.@RailMinIndia @PiyushGoyal @PMOIndia @PiyushGoyalOffc @narendramodi @manojsinhabjp @yogi

— Adarsh Shrivastava (@AdarshS74227065) July 5, 2018

He further raised suspicion that the minors could have been trafficked.

subject to human trafficking )my current station is Hari Nagar my next station is BAGAHA and then Gorakhpur.kindly help them out. Please help.@RailMinIndia @PiyushGoyal @PiyushGoyalOffc @PMOIndia @narendramodi @rajnathsingh

— Adarsh Shrivastava (@AdarshS74227065) July 5, 2018

Reacting to the tweet, officials in Varanasi as well as Lucknow swung into action and within half an hour of the alert on social media, the investigation had begun.

@spgrpgorakhpur _____ ________ ___ ______ _________ ____ |

— GRP UTTAR PRADESH (@upgrp) July 5, 2018

The GRP at Gorakhpur coordinated with Childline along with the anti-trafficking unit of the police. Two RPF jawans in plain clothes boarded the train at Kaptanganj and the girls were found with two men, aged 22 and 55 years. Both of them were arrested and the girls were escorted to Gorakhpur.

_______ __ _______ _____ __ _____ ___ ______ ____ _______ __ ____ _____ ___.

— SP GRP GORAKHPUR (@spgrpgorakhpur) July 5, 2018

“All of them are from West Champaran in Bihar,” Railway officials said. “The girls were being taken from Narkatikyaganj to Idgah. When questioned, the girls were unable to answer anything convincingly, so they have been handed over to the child welfare committee.” Meanwhile, the parents of the girls have been informed.

Thank you sir _ thanks for your quick response https://t.co/JkIbQSWT0a

— Adarsh Shrivastava (@AdarshS74227065) July 6, 2018

Twitter was all praise for the good samaritan whose presence of mind helped save lives of over two dozen girls from being ruined.

Hearty congratulations @AdarshS74227065 ji and all others ! You really have set an example for others to follow!

— Vinay Sahasrabuddhe (@vinay1011) July 7, 2018

@ChandrusWeb Unbelievable. Kudos to all. _

— GhoseSpot (@SandipGhose) July 6, 2018

What a fantastic thing you have done, saved 25 kids. This good karma should bestow only good to you and your descendants

— ______ (@Kunthavi5) July 6, 2018

Ppl like you restore faith in goodness and are an example for others to be vigilant and responsible..Huge respect !

— Mona kanwal (@monakaran) July 6, 2018

Well done mate. You saved 25 lives. I wish more of us show care, compassion and presence of mind to help the citizens of this country.

— Akshay Deodhar (@DeodharAkshay) July 6, 2018