Mastermind of child trafficking ring held in Tinsukia after days on the run

Dibrugarh: Police in Tinsukia district arrested the alleged mastermind of a child trafficking network on Wednesday, bringing an end to a manhunt that followed the recent capture of his accomplices.The accused, identified as Peter Sona (44), was apprehended from his hiding place in the Pengeri area of Tinsukia by a police team from Philobari police station.According to police, Sona is suspected of carrying out at least half a dozen child trafficking cases, targeting children from the vulnerable tea garden communities and trafficking them across the border to Arunachal Pradesh, which shares its boundary with Tinsukia district.The accused had been evading arrest ever since one of his associates was caught red-handed at Duarmara Singpho village recently while attempting to abduct a minor.The breakthrough came when villagers nabbed one of the accused, Dipak Phukan, and handed him over to police. His interrogation led to the arrest of five more individuals — Umakanta Chetri, Boby Deori Sona, Rohit Khadal, Peter Sabashi, and Ajit Munda — but the main mastermind remained at large until Wednesday.“Sona has been taken into custody in connection with the ongoing investigation at Philobari police station. While we had already arrested six of his associates, he managed to remain in hiding. Acting on specific information from our intelligence network, we tracked him down and arrested him from a hideout,” Philobari OC Ajit Sonowal on Thursday said.Police also seized a car which was allegedly used by the traffickers to transport children.Sources revealed that Sona exploited his former association with the Assam Tea Tribe Students’ Association (Attsa) to manipulate vulnerable tea garden families. “He would lure children from Adivasi families under false pretenses and traffic them to Arunachal Pradesh where they were forced to work as domestic help. He misused his past ATTSA affiliation to gain the trust of innocent people,” a source said, adding that Sona had been involved in the trafficking racket for several years.An ATTSA leader strongly condemned the accused’s actions. “This man exploited his former position in our organisation to deceive and betray the trust of poor Adivasi families. We strongly condemn his heinous crimes and demand