Fourteen children, allegedly trafficked from different districts of Bihar to Delhi, were rescued by the Railway unit of Delhi Police, officials said on Wednesday. Ten people have been arrested.
The rescued children, in the age group of 12-14 years, have been taken to a quarantine centre in south Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar, the police said.
The matter came to light after an information was received from an NGO on September 7 about 14 minors being brought to Delhi by Mahananda Express train from different districts of Bihar, a senior police officer said.
A joint operation was launched at the Old Delhi railway station by police along with NGO Bachpan Bacho Andolan, Salam Balak Trust and RPF personnel.
The team, on vigil, closely monitored the CCTV cameras to see any suspicious movement, the officer said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Railways) Harendra K. Singh said, “Ten persons were detained and 14 children were rescued. These children were medically examined and taken to a quarantine centre in Lajpat Nagar.”
“They were produced before the Child Welfare Committee through videoconferencing. Based on their statements before the committee, a case was registered and the 10 accused persons were arrested,” he added.
During interrogation, the accused disclosed that the children belong to different districts of Bihar.
Labour shortage
Among those rescued, nine children are from Katihar, two from Begusarai, two from Kishanganj and one from Purnia. They had planned to take them to different places, including four to Azadpur and two to Seelampur in Delhi, two to Faridabad in Haryana and six to Punjab, he said.
Due to shortage of labourers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the traffickers saw an opportunity to get the children employed in factories and targeted poor families in Bihar, the DCP said.