Ranchi: Sunita Panna, an inspector with the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and posted in the Ranchi railway division, achieved commendable success in rescuing trafficked girls and other children from Ranchi and Hatia railway stations over the years. While the task is part of Panna’s duty, her proactive approach and commitment to stop these crimes made her popular among her seniors, peers and juniors.In August 2023, Sunita’s action led to the arrest of a woman trafficker and the rescue of two children from the Ranchi station. While working on the case, Sunita detected suspicious movement of two girls at the station, and she immediately questioned them along with their woman trafficker. As they did not give a convincing reply and time was short, Sunita boarded the train along with them to continue her interrogation. Eventually, she established that one woman was a trafficker and also found a diary in which the entries for commissions she received for sending girls from various parts of Jharkhand were recorded.In another instance, she found an autistic boy at the Ranchi railway station ticket counter in October 2023. When she sent him to a private clinic near the Ranchi Institute of Neuro-Psychiatry and Applied Sciences, the doctor identified the boy, stating that his father had brought him for treatment. After gathering information about his parents’ contact number from the clinic, she recalled that the mother stated that she would come to take him home. Later, the father refused to acknowledge that the boy was his child. Sunita and her colleagues then ensured that the boy was sent to a rehabilitation home located in Bagodar.Meanwhile, sources said Sunita led operations in arresting 29 traffickers and rescuing around 50 children, mainly from Ranchi and Hatia railway stations, in the last five years since 2020. Besides, she also rescued and rehabilitated over 50 children who were found without a guardian at the stations.Notably, Sunita was transferred to the control room in RPF Hatia station some months ago, but her campaign continued indirectly. After developing extensive networks with non-govt organizations, child welfare committees, and other agencies engaged in preventing trafficking, she received continuous inputs, which were relayed to the RPF personnel concerned for action.Currently on maternity leave, Sunita said, “Heading the anti-human trafficking teams of the Ranchi rail division, I was keen to save children and minors from the railway station. Working hard in this field for five years, I have developed a special ability to track suspicious persons at the railway stations.”It may be stated here that the Railway Board provided her a commendation certificate for rescuing two minor children from Ranchi railway station in September 2020. The railways also awarded her for distributing “kichdi“ among people in rural areas during the Covid-19 pandemic.RPF commandant Pawan Kumar stated, “She has a special knack for tracking trafficked children and also takes pains to trace and rescue them. She also has good knowledge of this locality, which is helpful.”