A twist in a rescue tale

According to police, the boys lived in a cubbyhole in KG Nagar area, Bangalore South. All of them are natives of Uttar Pradesh and belong to poor families. Police gave their names as Anil (10), Sunil alias Ram Prakash Yadav (14), Kuldeep (16), Phool Singh (16), Susheel (15) and Brijesh Hari Charan (15).

On Saturday morning, Anil approached Jayakumar, a member of Maruti Kannadiga Sangha, Gavipuram Guttahalli, and asked to borrow his mobile phone to make a call. As the boy was weeping, Jayakumar sought to know what was happening and also lent Anil a helping hand.

Narrating the boy’s plight to Deccan Herald, Jayakumar said: “I learnt Anil and a few other boys were sold for Rs 10,000 to Rinku and Pinku, also natives of UP, who had settled in Bangalore two years ago. The duo put the boys in a dingy place in Laxmipura near Sreenagar and forced them into their groundnut business.”

Early morning, the boys were given tea and biscuits. Soon after, they stirred out to do their daily chore — of carrying 5-6 kg of peanuts around the City and returning with the earnings by evening. Every day, the young lads did a business of Rs 300-Rs 400 and if their collection fell short, they were treated badly and even beaten. Late in the evening, they were given two rotis and a small serving of rice.

Hearing the sorry tale, Jayakumar and his friends approached the locality police. The cops in turn stormed Rinku’s house and rescued the boys. The Rinku couple were picked up for interrogation.

By late Saturday evening, the police got in touch with the children’s parents over the phone and were taken aback after learning the real story. A senior officer told Deccan Herald: “The boys’ parents started yelling at us when we informed them we had rescued their children. They said Rinku and Pinku were consanguineously related to all the six boys and that the boys had dropped out of school, some even getting into petty crimes.

So, their parents in UP requested Rinku to take them to Bangalore and see to it they mended their ways.”

During interrogation, it was revealed that Rinku’s wife was in an advanced stage of pregnancy and she was unable to cook breakfast for them. So, the boys were given biscuits and this led to the entire chaos.

The boys are now lodged in Don Bosco house, a rehab home, but the cops are in two minds over booking a case against the Rinku couple after learning about the boys’ background.

Industrialist mowed down

An industrialist died instantly after a goods vehicle rammed his scooter in Pennya II Stage on Friday.

Anand Murthy (52), a resident of Shankar Nagar, Mahalakshmi Layout, was passing by Vinaya Rolling Mill Junction, when the speeding van knocked him down, killing him on the spot. The driver abandoned the vehicle and fled.

Flesh trade

The CCB police claimed to have busted a prostitution racket involving a foreign national, recently. The cops raided a hotel on Brigade Road and rounded up five persons, including a Uzbek girl.