Tripura Police have rescued 24 youths reported missing from Unakoti district after tracing them to Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh, following a coordinated inter-state operation.
Unakoti Superintendent of Police Sudhambika R said on December 25 that a complaint was received a day earlier from a woman alleging that 24 youths had gone missing. An FIR was registered immediately and a search operation was launched. During the investigation, police tracked their movement and confirmed that the youths were in Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
“After locating them, we contacted the Superintendent of Police and the officer-in-charge of the concerned police station in Siang. The Arunachal Pradesh Police acted swiftly and all 24 youths were rescued safely,” the SP said. She added that the Director General of Police of Tripura also spoke to his Arunachal Pradesh counterpart to ensure smooth coordination during the operation.
“All of them are safe. A special team from Tripura Police will leave tomorrow to bring them back,” Sudhambika said, adding that further investigation is underway to determine how and why the youths were taken to Arunachal Pradesh.
Earlier, Tripura Labour Minister Tinku Roy had written to Arunachal Pradesh Labour and Employment Minister Nyato Dukam, seeking urgent intervention for the rescue and repatriation of around 24 child labourers allegedly trafficked from Tripura. In the letter, Roy said engaging children as labour is illegal and a serious violation of human rights.
The minister also said a case was registered at Kailashahar Police Station after reports surfaced that nearly 30 child labourers, along with a few adults, were taken from Rangrung Tea Garden and another tea estate in the Kalishasan area of Kailashahar to Arunachal Pradesh. The labourers were allegedly lured with promises of wages and benefits but were later denied their rightful entitlements.
Family members have claimed that the children were subjected to ill-treatment and forced to live in inhuman conditions, leading to severe mental trauma. According to them, the youths and minors went missing on December 9, 2025, from the Kalishasan and Rangrung tea plantation areas under Rangrung Gram Panchayat when their family members were away at work.