Panic grips Kodarma district after ten children from the endangered Birhor tribe went missing en route from a shraddh event. The Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) kids, last seen on January 31 in Parsabad, 15 km from their Khariodih home, have baffled investigators.
Dozens from Gadiyai Birhor Tola joined the ancestral rite. Post-ceremony, all returned except the ten minors. Desperate families combed villages and kin networks before filing complaints. Now, a multi-agency probe unfolds.
Human trafficking looms large in suspicions, given the numbers involved. Police leverage surveillance: CCTV from local shops to highways under review. DSP (Trainee) Divakar Kumar detailed intensified patrols at bus depots, trains, and roads leading out of Jharkhand.
‘The community is terrified; we’ve never faced anything like this,’ shared a villager. SHO Uma Nath Singh pledged exhaustive efforts, coordinating with adjacent forces. Yet, parents’ anguish deepens – sleepless nights, endless tears.
This tragedy spotlights PVTG plight: nomadic lifestyles, zero infrastructure, easy targets for exploiters. Calls grow for mobile policing units and awareness drives. As leads trickle in, the clock ticks mercilessly. Jharkhand must confront its underbelly to safeguard the vulnerable.