In a quick and well-coordinated operation by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Jodhpur Police, two young Hindu girls who had gone missing from Jodhpur were safely recovered at Ahmedabad railway station on August 16. The girls had been befriended online through gaming apps and social media by two men, Aqib Ansari, 24, from Bengaluru, and Syed Ibrahim, who then tried to take them to Bengaluru by train. Both men have now been arrested.
The case has once again drawn attention to how easily strangers can reach children through online games and social media. Police are examining whether this was part of a larger human trafficking plan.
According to the police, a missing persons report was filed on 13 August at the Kudi Bhagtasani police station in Jodhpur after the two girls disappeared from their homes. Suspecting they might try to leave Rajasthan by train, Jodhpur Police immediately alerted the RPF. The RPF’s Ahmedabad Division formed a special team and began checking trains carefully.
The breakthrough came when the Jodhpur-KSR Bengaluru Express (Train No. 20693) arrived at Ahmedabad station. During the search, RPF officers noticed one of the girls with a young man who looked suspicious. The moment he saw the officers, he tried to run and threw his mobile phone out of the moving train, hoping to destroy evidence. The RPF team acted fast, caught him, and during questioning learned he was Aqib Ansari, 24, from Bengaluru.
Ansari had already deleted his call records and messages, but the team recovered the discarded phone near Nadiad railway station with technical help. Data from the phone led them to the second man, Syed Ibrahim. He was arrested on Platform No. 1 at Ahmedabad station along with the second girl.
Police say the two accused first contacted the girls through social media and popular gaming apps. Over time they built a friendship and then persuaded the girls to leave home, planning to take them by train to Bengaluru.
Both girls are now safe and will soon return to their families. Investigators are questioning Ansari and Ibrahim closely to find out why they wanted to take the girls to Bengaluru.
Police are checking whether the girls were being taken for sale or were meant to become victims of a larger trafficking network. They are also looking into whether anyone else or any organised group was involved.
