Nagpur, 26 July (HS): The use of fake Aadhar cards in Nagpur's red-light area has emerged as a major enabler of sex trafficking involving minors. Nagpur Police and the Social Security Branch (SSB) of the Crime Branch have revealed how traffickers manipulate identity and age details on the forged Aadhar cards to exploit underage girls and mislead the authorities. Earlier this month a woman from Uzbekistan was rescued from a hotel. She was in possession of of an Indian Aadgar card.

Just days

later, SSB officials rescued eight women, including five minors, from the Ganga

Jamuna red-light area. All the victims were reportedly trafficked from

Rajasthan and were found with Aadhaar cards showing them as adults, thereby

excluding them from the legal protection offered to minors under anti-trafficking

laws.

Investigators

said traffickers are consistently using forged Aadhaar cards to alter both the

age and origin of victims. Cases have been reported where girls from West

Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and even nearby districts like Chandrapur,

Wardha, and Gondia were presented as adults through falsified documents.

Officials

further revealed that traffickers often administer steroids to minor girls to

make them appear physically mature, thereby complicating the process of age

verification during rescue operations.

One of the most

shocking cases came to light in 2021 when a seven-year-old girl was kidnapped

from Madhya Pradesh. By the time she turned 10, she had been sold multiple

times and pushed into the sex trade. She was finally rescued from Ganga Jamuna

at the age of 14. However, due to her physical appearance — altered by steroids

and grooming, even police initially mistook her for an adult. Investigations

later revealed she had been sold for Rs 22 lakh.

Deputy

Commissioner of Police Mahak Swami, who led several rescue operations in Ganga

Jamuna during her tenure as Zone 3 chief, confirmed the recurring use of fake

Aadhaar cards. “We have come across multiple cases where minors were passed off

as adults using forged Aadhaar documents. The misuse of this critical

identification tool is extremely worrying,” she said.

She urged hoteliers, lodge owners, and property renters to verify Aadhaar

details using the official ‘mAadhaar’ app or by scanning the QR codes printed

on the cards. “Basic verification can prevent the exploitation of vulnerable

individuals,” Swami added.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Ajay Vasant Mardikar