Bhubaneswar, August 26: Five minor tribal girls from Gajapati district of Odisha, who were allegedly trafficked to Hyderabad, have been rescued and the prime accused arrested, police said on Wednesday.

The girls, belonging to economically disadvantaged tribal communities, had dropped out of school. The case came to light after a local social worker lodged a complaint at Adava police station in Gajapati district on August 17, alleging that several girls from the area had been trafficked.

Acting on the complaint, police launched an investigation and gathered information about the suspected trafficking network.

During the probe, police received credible inputs about the movement of the victims to Hyderabad. A team subsequently conducted searches at multiple locations in the city and rescued all five girls.

The investigation revealed that the Aadhaar details of the girls had allegedly been manipulated to show them as adults, apparently to facilitate their trafficking, police said.

The prime accused, identified as Rajkumar Bastray, has been arrested.