<p>Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) is becoming an essential support for the Internet of Things that offers scalable connectivity and resilient communication. But, the efficiency and security of WMNs are generally affected by abnormal routing behavior, poor router placement, and privacy issues during data transmission. To tackle these challenges, this work suggests a secure trust based optimal router placement and aggregation mechanism model. The metaheuristic algorithm Adaptive Griffon Vulture Optimizer is used for achieving optimal router placement and it ensures balanced coverage, reduced latency, and better energy efficiency across the network. A trust evaluation model is used for routing that assesses node behaviour dynamically and makes the selection of reliable and secure forwarding paths. At last, an Enhanced Homomorphic Encryption based aggregation mechanism is combined for preserving confidentiality by allowing encrypted data to be aggregated without decryption. This minimizes redundancy and reduces communication overhead. By combining optimal placement, trust-aware routing, and privacy-preserving aggregation, the suggested model provided packet delivery ratio of 98% and trust accuracy of 99.5%. This improves resilience against threats and provides energy-efficient and secure operation. Simulation outcomes validate that the suggested model outperformed conventional approaches and making it a robust solution for IoT based WMNs.</p>