Cops rescue 16 boys from misery trip, arrest five agents

Inter-state gang busted with NGO help

Sixteen children, hailing from villages in Bihar, West Bengal and Nepal, were rescued at Old Delhi railway station while they were being trafficked to Ludhiana.

Five agents who were taking the boys to Punjab have also been arrested, police said on Thursday.

The action was taken over a complaint filed by Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), a non-governmental organisation working to combat child labour.

The NGO had told police that the boys, aged between 9 to16, were being taken to Punjab for bonded labour by Brahmaputra Mail.

“A rescue operation was conducted by a team, which included Delhi Police, RPF personnel and BBA activists, at platform numbers 10 and 11 of the railway station. Four of the rescued boys were from Nepal,” a senior police official said.

Police also said two gangs from West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district and Nepal were involved in the trafficking. A case has been registered against them under sections of Juvenile Justice Act, Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, and Indian Penal Code.

A BBA spokesperson added that the boys were being trafficked on the pretext of better employment opportunities in Ludhiana’s garment factories, shops and farms. “Parents some of these children were not aware that their sons were being trafficked to Ludhiana,” the spokesperson said.

Girdhar, a 14-year-old from Nepal, said, “I have eight siblings and my parents recently passed away. I had no option but to explore job opportunities outside my village.”

The rescued children were later handed over to the child welfare committee, which shifted them to juvenile homes at Burari in north Delhi.

On March 15, 19 girls and a seven-year-old boy were rescued from placement agencies at Shakurpur in north-west Delhi. The girls had revealed that they were sexually abused and sold to people for Rs 36,000 to work as domestic work.