Five FIRs, 25 Arrests, Rs 10,000 Trafficking Plot: The Dark Truth Behind Baruipur Horror | Exclusive
Five FIRs, 25 Arrests, Rs 10,000 Trafficking Plot: The Dark Truth Behind Baruipur Horror | Exclusive Reported By, Edited By Last Updated: July 08, 2026
Five FIRs, 25 Arrests, Rs 10,000 Trafficking Plot: The Dark Truth Behind Baruipur Horror | Exclusive Reported By, Edited By Last Updated: July 08, 2026, 15:54 IST Investigators are now probing whether the child was first targeted to be trafficked for Rs 10,000 before she was allegedly raped and murdered, News18 has learnt. Rapid Read Protesters damage a police vehicle amid a protest following the recovery of the body of a teen girl who went missing on Saturday in Baruipur. (PTI photo) The investigation into the rape and murder of the 11-year-old girl in West Bengal’s Baruipur has thrown up a chilling new lead. Investigators are now probing whether the child was first targeted to be trafficked for Rs 10,000 before she was allegedly raped and murdered, News18 has learnt. Sources said that one of the accused admitted, the child was initially abducted for trafficking. News18 has also learnt that five FIRs have now been registered in connection with the chain of events that followed the crime. Apart from the principal case relating to the rape and murder, separate cases have been lodged over the violence that erupted in Baruipur, including arson, vandalism, attacks on police personnel, attack at the RPF, and the lynching of a man who was later said by the chief minister Suvendu Adhikari to be innocent.
A fifth FIR is now in the process of being initiated in connection with the alleged encounter of the key accused on Wednesday. So far, 25 people have been arrested across the first four cases, with police continuing to identify others allegedly involved in the violence. A trafficking plot? A senior police officer told News18 that the alleged trafficking plan has emerged during the investigation and is now being examined alongside the murder and gangrape charges. While investigators are still corroborating evidence and have not reached a final conclusion, the lead has added an entirely new dimension to one of Bengal’s most shocking crimes. The development is significant given Baruipur’s geography. Located in South 24 Parganas, the region has long remained on the radar of law enforcement agencies as a vulnerable human trafficking corridor. Over the years, multiple investigations by state and central agencies have pointed to trafficking networks operating through the district, exploiting poverty and porous transit routes. The investigation has also expanded considerably. The probe has moved at remarkable speed.
Within hours of the crime, police tracked down and arrested the accused. The investigation, however, took a dramatic turn after the alleged prime accused, Prabhash Mondol, was killed in a police encounter during a post-midnight crime scene reconstruction. According to the official version, Mondol allegedly snatched a police officer’s service pistol, fired at the police team and attempted to flee before police opened fire. The alleged trafficking angle now raises troubling questions. Was the child initially targeted for sale before the crime spiralled into rape and murder? Was there a larger trafficking network involved? Or was this the act of a small criminal group exploiting a district that has historically remained vulnerable to human trafficking? Investigators are now trying to piece together those answers. If the trafficking lead is established, the Baruipur horror will no longer be viewed merely as a gruesome rape and murder. It could expose yet another layer of organised criminality operating in one of Bengal’s most trafficking-prone regions. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit About the Author Madhuparna Das Madhuparna Das, Associate Editor (policy) at CNN News 18, has been in journalism for nearly 14 years.
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