GUWAHATI: Eleven members of a dance troupe from

, who were allegedly held captive by a group of miscreants at Chhapra district in

, were rescued by police on Tuesday. There were nine women in the group.

The rescue operation was launched on Monday after one of the members of the group managed to send across a message to one of her teachers and shared the GPS location. A team of city police has already left for Bihar to bring them home.

"After being alerted about the incident, our counterparts in Bihar swung into action and rescued all the youngsters. All of them are safe now," said Guwahati police commissioner Deepak Kumar.

Sources said the group was initially invited to perform at a cultural function in West Bengal's Siliguri area on August 1. However, after reaching Siliguri, the members were asked to board a bus which took them to an unknown location following a seven-hour journey. After reaching there, they were also asked to perform on Bhojpuri songs which they denied categorically, resulting in an argument between them and the organisers.

All of them were held captive at a building guarded by some 50 men somewhere in the Mashrak area.

have promised a detailed investigation into the incident and nab the culprits.

In a similar incident at Asolpara area in Assam's

earlier, a group of dancers were allegedly molested and threatened by an unruly audience who wanted them to perform strip dance. Several people were arrested in connection with the case.