Mallika Banerjee is an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from West Bengal who gained national recognition for her undercover operations against child trafficking networks in Chhattisgarh. Serving as Station House Officer and Anti-Human Trafficking Nodal Officer, she is widely known as “real-life Mardaani” for her 2016 undercover mission where she disguised herself as a door-to-door saleswoman to infiltrate trafficking rings. Her methodical police work led to the rescue of over 20 trafficked children and the exposure of 25 illegal placement agencies operating across multiple states.
Mallika Banerjee Early Life and Background
Mallika Banerjee is a Bengali woman who chose a career in uniform, joining the Indian Police Service. She was approximately 30 years old in 2018 when profiled by The Telegraph India, suggesting she was born around 1987-1988. Specific details about her parents, early childhood, and educational background are not publicly disclosed.
Her journey into law enforcement began with her selection into the IPS cadre. She was posted to Chhattisgarh early in her career, where she would later make her mark in anti-trafficking operations. The exact year of her IPS batch and training details have not been publicly reported.
Mallika Banerjee Career and Anti-Trafficking Work
Mallika Banerjee’s career took a defining turn during her posting in the rural belt of Jaspur, Chhattisgarh. She began encountering families with missing children and noticed a disturbing pattern in filed FIRs that had received no follow-up investigation. This observation troubled her deeply, especially how easily everyone seemed to have moved on from these disappearances.
Upon reviewing old First Information Reports, Mallika discovered that many missing children had been traced to Delhi. Rather than conducting traditional police investigations, she chose an unconventional approach. In November 2014, she traveled to Delhi, changed her identity and appearance, and began posing as a beauty product seller.
Her first major breakthrough came in 2016 when she launched a comprehensive undercover operation. Disguised as a saleswoman, she went door-to-door in villages selling cosmetics, offering head massages, and most importantly, listening to people who would never speak openly to a uniformed police officer. In living rooms and courtyards across rural Chhattisgarh, names and information began to surface that connected to old missing children cases.
This slow, methodical undercover work revealed that children had been folded into organized trafficking networks disguised as legitimate opportunities. The traffickers operated through placement agencies, job promises, and offers of better lives in big cities like Delhi. What disturbed Mallika most was how ordinary and non-violent the trafficking appeared, allowing it to survive because people had learned to look away.
Through her undercover intelligence gathering and coordinated police work, Mallika’s team rescued more than 20 trafficked children. The operation exposed approximately 25 illegal placement agencies that preyed on vulnerable families by presenting exploitation as opportunity. She successfully arrested major traffickers, including a kingpin allegedly responsible for trafficking minors across several states.
During her undercover mission, Mallika faced significant threats and bribe offers intended to derail her investigation. Despite intimidation and danger, she refused to back down, ensuring that vulnerable children were brought to safety and justice was served. Her work involved reopening forgotten FIRs and coordinating across multiple states to trace leads and conduct raids.
Mallika Banerjee Recognition as “Real-Life Mardaani”
The media and public widely recognized Mallika Banerjee’s anti-trafficking work by nicknaming her “real-life Mardaani,” comparing her to the protagonist of the Bollywood film franchise starring Rani Mukerji. The comparison stems from her courageous undercover operations that dismantled organized child trafficking rings. Unlike cinematic portrayals, however, her achievements came through exhausting, systematic police work rather than dramatic action sequences.
Anti-trafficking organizations like Shakti Vahini have acknowledged how deep and organized trafficking networks operate in India. Mallika’s work demonstrated that trafficking rarely looks violent and survives precisely because it appears ordinary. She challenged a system that had learned to look away from these crimes.
Her early efforts in 2016 presaged a continuing national crisis, as recent police operations across India show that trafficking remains pervasive. The methodical approach she pioneered—going undercover to elicit information that traditional policing missed—has influenced how authorities now approach trafficking cases.
Current Position and Impact
Mallika Banerjee serves as Station House Officer and Anti-Human Trafficking Nodal Officer in Chhattisgarh. Her designation places her at the forefront of coordinated efforts to combat human trafficking in the state. Her mission remains a powerful example of determination and bravery in the fight against human trafficking.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has since reported rescuing over 2,300 children across India through coordinated operations, reflecting the broader systemic responses that pioneers like Mallika helped establish. Her work illustrated how traffickers operate quietly across state lines, exploiting gaps in inter-jurisdictional monitoring.
Mallika Banerjee Personal Life
Details about Mallika Banerjee’s husband, marital status, and family life are not publicly disclosed. She maintains privacy regarding her personal affairs, consistent with many serving IPS officers. Her professional achievements and dedication to anti-trafficking work define her public profile.
Mallika Banerjee Legacy and Continuing Impact
Mallika Banerjee’s undercover work in 2016 exposed child-trafficking networks masquerading as job agencies and placement services. Her operations demonstrated how trafficking in India disguises itself as opportunity, with illegal agencies presenting exploitation as legitimate employment. Each rescue she facilitated represented a return from invisibility to home, from paperwork to personhood.
Her approach—changing identity, living undercover, and building trust with communities—provided a blueprint for investigating trafficking cases that traditional policing often missed. The persistence she showed in reopening cold cases and coordinating across state boundaries continues to influence anti-trafficking operations nationwide.
Recent police operations across India, from inter-state rackets busted in Gujarat and Jharkhand to rising child labor rescues in Delhi, show that trafficking networks remain active. Mallika’s early work anticipated these broader patterns that authorities now confront across the country. Her decision to step directly into the trafficking system rather than investigate from a distance challenged how law enforcement approaches these crimes.