Two minor girls were rescued from a red-light area in Watgunge, where they had been kept confined from Saturday night. Two men and a woman were arrested on charges of abduction and illegal confinement.

Police said the two girls were brought to the city from Atghara, in the Rajarhat police station area of North 24-Parganas, on Saturday morning. A woman, identified as Dolly Sen, had promised them jobs with a private firm. She brought the girls to Watgunge in a taxi. They were herded into a dingy room of a two-storey building and the door was bolted from outside.

Police received a tip-off around 9 am on Sunday. Local thana officials stormed the house but could not find the girls. An hour’s search later, they were found in the locked room.