Siliguri: A 15-year-old minor girl was rescued by the Siliguri Junction Traffic Guard before she could allegedly be trafficked to a red-light area in Siliguri.

Sources claimed that an e-rickshaw driver had allegedly attempted to take her there.

According to sources, the minor is a resident of Bihar and had been staying in an orphanage in Katihar. She appeared for her Madhyamik examination this year. Police sources said she left the orphanage as she did not want to stay there any longer. Without informing anyone, she boarded a train and arrived in Siliguri.

On Wednesday evening, after getting off at Siliguri Junction railway station, she was searching for an orphanage. She asked an e-rickshaw driver for directions. The driver allegedly told her there was an orphanage in Ward No. 7, an area with a red-light zone. A youth nearby overheard the conversation and immediately alerted the Junction traffic police on duty, who then rescued the girl. The e-rickshaw driver, however, fled the scene.

Later that night, the girl was handed over to Pradhan Nagar Police Station and sent to a shelter home with the assistance of the Darjeeling District Legal Aid Forum. Amit Sarkar, Secretary of the forum said: "We have lodged a complaint at the police station regarding the incident."

On Thursday, the girl was produced before the Child Welfare Committee.

However, Basudev Sarkar, Inspector-in-Charge of Pradhan Nagar Police Station, stated that the girl herself approached the traffic police. "No evidence of a red-light area issue has been found so far," the IC said. Further investigation is underway.