Over a hundred madarsa students in the age group of 12-20 years were allegedly de-boarded from a Delhi-bound train by security officials at Bareilly junction on the suspicion of child trafficking on Saturday, officials said.

Station house officer, government railway police (GRP), Krishan Avatar said the boys, who were students of madarsas in west UP districts and Delhi, were travelling in Malda Town Express. “We received inputs from Shahjahanpur that the boys are young and are being moved illegally. As the train reached Bareilly, about a dozen personnel of GRP and Railway Protection Force (RPF) surrounded two bogies of the train and asked the students to come out on the platform with their belongings,” he said. The officials inquired about the identity of the students and noted down their names, place they were coming from and where they were headed to.

They also cross-checked their claims through the documents presented to them.

“The boys hailed from various districts of West Bengal and were enrolled in madarasas. They informed us that they were returning to their respective madarsas after summer vacation. Most of them had valid rail ticket,” Avatar said.

“To rule out any possibility of child trafficking, the officers questioned some of the minor boys separately and even talked to their parents over phone. The exercise took over three hours to complete,” he said. “The children were not given anything to eat during these three hours. However, they were allowed to drink water from the taps at railway station,” Avatar added.

The officer added that after questioning, arrangements were made for the onward journey of the students in two trains -- Sealdah Express and Delhi passenger.

First Published: Jul 01, 2019 10:30 IST